Lacson: Up to P180 billion lost to 'ghost' flood control projects since 2016

More than P180 billion may have been lost to ghost flood control projects alone since 2016, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Wednesday, warning that the scale of corruption in infrastructure spending is far larger than what has so far been exposed.

In a radio interview, Lacson said the estimate was based on inspections of roughly 10,000 flood control projects conducted by his office and that of Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian. Of those inspected, more than 600 were found to be nonexistent.

“We are looking at 30,000 flood control projects since 2016,” Lacson explained.

“If we extrapolate based on earlier findings that more than 600 out of 10,000 projects were ghost, Sen. Gatchalian and I estimated that 6% or higher of 30,000 projects could mean P180 billion or higher went to ghost projects,” he further stressed.

Lacson said the figure dwarfs the number of anomalous projects presented so far before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs.

He previously detailed alleged corruption patterns in privilege speeches delivered in August and September.

“Imagine, we likely lost P180 billion to ghost projects and we have not yet started counting our losses to substandard projects,” he lamented.

A ‘pittance’ recovered so far

Lacson also downplayed recent developments involving former Department of Public Works and Highways district engineer Henry Alcantara, who reportedly “returned” P110 million linked to anomalous projects and is expected to hand back another P200 million in the coming weeks.

He lamented the amount as a “pittance” compared to the billions lost by the government.

Lacson said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee stands ready to support the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Ombudsman should new information surface that could lead to the filing of charges.

Amid the ongoing controversy, Lacson said the Senate has begun implementing reforms to prevent the recurrence of such irregularities.

These include the livestreaming of budget amendment discussions and the publication of all senators’ individual amendments — measures intended to prevent so-called allocables and other pork-like insertions in the 2026 national budget.

“There will be no room for allocables because the process is now transparent,” Lacson said, noting that, unlike past practice, amendments were introduced openly on the Senate floor.

Lacson noted that Gatchalian also read the amendments of 11 senators and will evaluate which to accept or reject with the help of the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office.

The Senate majority bloc has agreed to entrust full discretion to Gatchalian on the matter.

Simplified Bicam proceedings

Lacson also confirmed that the Senate and House of Representatives had agreed to streamline bicameral conference committee proceedings by limiting discussions to disagreeing provisions between both chambers, disallowing any “alien” or newly introduced provisions.

To further enhance public visibility, Gatchalian is expected to upload all budget amendments and related documents to the Senate’s transparency portal.

“This will be simpler and more transparent, and that is our intention. In the bicam, we will ensure transparency, all the way to the bill being enrolled,” Lacson said.