Lacson urges inter-agency probe into alleged budget insertions, warns against ‘cover-up’

Malacañang was too quick to brand the allegations as “hearsay,” Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said Friday, stressing that substantial evidence had already surfaced during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into anomalous infrastructure projects.

Lacson called for a genuine inter-agency investigation into allegations linking Cabinet officials to multibillion-peso budget insertions for Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects, warning that the premature dismissal of the claims could be seen as a “cover-up.”

“Instead of pursuing an honest-to-goodness inter-agency investigation by using whatever probative value was unearthed mainly from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, to prematurely dismiss the probable involvement of some members of the Cabinet as ‘hearsay’ may be interpreted as a euphemism for ‘cover-up,’” Lacson said.

His remarks came in response to statements from Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, who earlier dismissed claims that some Cabinet secretaries were proponents of the 2025 infrastructure budget insertions, saying these lacked probative value and amounted to hearsay.

Castro added that the Palace would only address documents that had been authenticated by the DPWH.

Lacson countered that the Senate hearings had already generated evidence, including sworn testimonies supported by official documents found in budget books.

He said these included lists of items that corroborated the accounts of resource persons who, he noted, had admitted under oath to their involvement in the alleged plunder of public funds.

The senator also cited the possible uncovering of a “web of accounts” that could trace the movement of funds, an effort he said was being pursued by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

According to Lacson, failing to seriously address the allegations could further inflame public anger, particularly in light of reports of failed and ghost infrastructure projects.

“The government cannot afford to ignore and risk fueling public indignation over the extent of corruption behind failed and ghost infrastructure projects,” he said.

“In the final analysis, we cannot blame the public, led by the Catholic Church, other religious sectors, and civil groups for their unrelenting display of anger and distrust in government,” he added.