MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson warned Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon that any attempt to conceal suspected irregularities in Taguig City infrastructure projects could expose official leadership to criminal charges.
Speaking in a radio interview on Monday, Lacson disclosed that he issued the warning during a weekend phone conversation with Dizon.
The discussion followed Lacson’s exposure of billing documents for a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) project in Taguig that incorporated geotagged photos actually taken in Leyte, approximately 600 kilometers away.
The venture, recorded under Contract ID 220B0106 as the “Slope Protection along Taguig River Project,” involved roughly ₱96.5 million paid to St. Timothy Construction Corporation—a firm Lacson linked to government contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya.
Billing records for the project contained photos pinpointing three locations in Tacloban City.
“Sinabi ko sa kanya, huwag nyo na itanggi ito kasi nai-submit ko na rin ito sa Ombudsman. Nasa Ombudsman na yan. Mapapahamak kayo pagka nagtakip pa kayo diyan. Magpakatotoo na lang tayo pare-pareho,” Lacson said.
Lacson clarified that while the slope protection scheme was the most glaring instance due to its distant geotags, internal DPWH inspection teams had flagged 68 total projects in Taguig.
In several cases, evaluators could not confirm if structures were ever built because subsequent construction projects had already built over the original sites.
“Yan lang ang hinighlight ko kasi masyadong brazen, kasi (ang photos nakaturo sa lugar na) 600 km away,” Lacson noted.
“Hindi natin kino-conclude na ghost ito pero hindi rin nating pwedeng conclude na walang ghost sa Taguig. Isa lang yan. May project na verify nila, hindi nila makita ang proyekto kasi wala sa site, hindi na ma-establish kasi natakpan ng panibagong proyekto,” he added.
The senator’s statements come after Dizon and DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III addressed questions from Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano during a Senate finance subcommittee hearing on the agency’s proposed budget.
Lacson revealed that Dizon was “very apologetic” during their call, claiming he was “set up” when he previously assured senators that Taguig had no phantom projects. In response, Lacson forwarded a video clip of the hearing where Dizon explicitly denied the existence of ghost projects, followed by Bernabe’s testimony asserting that all 107 projects in Taguig registered accomplishments.
The internal assessments in question were conducted between July 23 and 25 by five joint DPWH teams comprising representatives from the Bureau of Quality and Safety, Bureau of Construction, Bureau of Research and Standards, and Bureau of Maintenance.
Lacson also pointed out potential transparency issues, noting that a media outlet attempting to independently verify the Taguig River project found the DPWH website inaccessible on Sunday. The site reportedly went back online after Lacson alerted Dizon to the outage.
The lawmaker reiterated that suppressing the findings of DPWH’s own audit units could carry direct legal consequences for agency leadership.
“Sabi ko mag-ingat kayo dito. Pag nagko-cover up kayo magiging criminally liable kayo. At the very least, pwede kayong maging accessory after the fact kasi coverup,” Lacson cautioned.