Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson sounded the alarm on Saturday, warning that the multibillion-peso flood control project scandal rocking Congress could implicate not only members of the House of Representatives but also fellow senators.
Lacson, known for his relentless anti-corruption drive that has saved billions in public funds, vowed that his probe would not spare members of the Senate if evidence proves they too pocketed kickbacks from anomalous projects.
House lawmakers earlier protested being singled out in what is now shaping up to be the biggest corruption controversy under the Marcos administration.
“I am not saying (that) it’s just members of the House. It is possible that some senators introduce insertions for such projects, and may even profit from the 25 percent share for the ‘funder’ or proponent of the insertions from the flood control project costs,” Lacson revealed in a radio interview.
“I’ll put it this way,” he added. “There may be senators and House members who may be connected to anomalous flood control projects.”
The senator emphasized that he would focus on building a case rather than naming names without evidence.
He noted that lawmakers have the power to propose budget “insertions” in the annual spending plan — a mechanism long criticized for being prone to corruption and political manipulation.
According to an exclusive Politiko report, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero allegedly inserted ₱142.7 billion into the 2025 General Appropriations Act. Bulacan, home province of Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, supposedly cornered ₱12 billion in infrastructure allocations.
Escudero, however, vehemently denied the allegations, dismissing them as a “demolition job” by the same groups who orchestrated the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.