With the investigation into the corruption in infrastructure projects rapidly expanding and implicating more government-linked firms, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Monday called for the urgent reinforcement of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the adoption of a whole-of-government strategy to tackle the crisis head-on.

Lacson issued the call amid the growing public alarm over the substandard, incomplete, and non-existent or ghost infrastructure projects, many of them reportedly tied to firms owned by the controversial Discaya couple.

One of the more prominent concerns involves the Marikina dike, which has already shown defects less than a year into its construction.

The project was contracted to Discaya-linked companies, raising serious red flags for residents of Provident Village in Marikina City.

“At the rate the number of substandard, uncompleted, and even ghost infrastructure projects being attributed to the Discaya-owned firms keeps piling up, the ICI may not be able to cope with the complexity and enormity of the problem at hand,” Lacson said.

To address this, the veteran senator urged Congress and the executive branch to bolster the ICI, not only with more personnel and logistical support, but also with an expanded legal authority, potentially through new legislation.

“The national government, including Congress, must reinforce the commission with adequate personnel and logistical resources, even additional legal power and authority by way of legislation so that they can accomplish their assigned task,” Lacson said.

The ICI, now under mounting pressure, reported Monday that out of the 29,800 flood control projects built from 2016 to 2024 that it has inspected, 421 were found to be “ghost projects” — either they were never built or their implementation could not be verified.

The breakdown included 261 projects in Luzon, 109 in the Visayas, and 51 in Mindanao.

ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said they plan to refer 15 to 20 of these cases to the Office of the Ombudsman within the next month, signaling a growing crackdown.

Lacson, whose Senate privilege speeches in August and September exposed the layers of corruption in flood control spending, emphasized the need for swift and coordinated action to bring the perpetrators to justice, whether they are contractors, public officials or legislators.

“It goes without saying that if we really intend to prosecute, convict, and recover the loot, a whole-of-government approach is extremely necessary, not later, but now,” he said.

Lacson stressed that without immediate, decisive action, public confidence in infrastructure development and government transparency may be further eroded.