Senator Ping Lacson revealed Monday that he had already identified the “bagman” of Senator Alan Cayetano in relation to alleged substandard and “ghost” flood control projects in Taguig, which were purportedly rampant in the city as early as 2020, during Cayetano’s stint as House Speaker. 

Some of the projects were allegedly implemented by detained Pasig-based business couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, through St. Timothy Construction Corporation and St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor.

“I’ve already identified [Cayetano’s] bagman. We’re about to make our move on that; we’re just gathering [evidence],” Lacson said in Filipino in a radio interview. 

Lacson’s office is actively gathering additional information regarding the status of the 68 infrastructure projects, including flood control, in Taguig. The city allegedly obtained a whopping P6.79 billion for these projects in the 2025 budget alone, which was funded through Cayetano’s congressional “insertions.”

Despite the substantial allocation, Lacson alleged that some of these projects were flagged as substandard, if not ghost, or non-existent. 

“We have documents, subject to validation, of course, showing that there are substandard and ghost projects in Taguig. This is what we are focusing on now. Since he challenged me, well, I’ll give him back to him,” Lacson stressed.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Senator Erwin Tulfo, is expected to resume the flood control investigation after the President’s SONA on 27 July, with PTV General Manager  Lino Cayetano—brother of the senator—as among those who will testify against the alleged irregular projects in Taguig. 

Lacson claimed that Lino reached out through an intermediary, volunteering to help the panel ascertain the legitimacy of the projects in their bailiwick.

Cayetano fires back

In response, Senator Cayetano said he is open to any probe, as long as it would be led by Senator Kiko Pangilinan, the chair of the BRC sub-committee. 

He called Lacson’s insinuations “illogical”, arguing that he would not have aggressively pushed for the resumption of the flood control probe if he knew that his own backyard was riddled with similar issues.

Meanwhile, the Senate minority leader expressed hope that DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon won’t “give in to pressure” from his colleagues, citing the Cabinet official’s previous assurances to him that there were no ghost projects in Taguig. 

“That’s why I’m puzzled now because after Senator Ping mentioned that there are ghosts, the immediate response was ‘I will verify’ even though he had already verified it [previously] and stated that there were no [ghosts in Taguig],” Cayetano stated in a Facebook live Monday. 

Nonetheless, the former Senate leader expressed confidence that his pet projects are viable and could withstand scrutiny.

“With just a little rain, it’s flooded all over the Philippines and Metro Manila, yet in Taguig, by the grace of God, everything is fine. And yet, we are the ones being investigated,” he lamented.

Lacson has no qualms in admitting that the aggressive push by his office was motivated by his frustration with Cayetano’s “unfounded” accusations against him involving the significant increase in his net worth from 2022 to 2025, despite his not being in public office during that period. 

Since the ouster of Cayetano as Senate president on 3 June, he and Lacson have exchanged barbs over the stalled flood control probe, with the former accusing Lacson and his allies of aggressively pushing the leadership revamp to derail the investigation, where several allies of President Marcos Jr. were implicated, including Tulfo. 

Aside from allegations of anomalies in flood control projects in Taguig, Lacson said he also obtained tips that the Taguig city engineer is hooked on gambling, and is using multiple aliases and has amassed an in-and-out casino transaction record worth nearly half a billion pesos.

He questioned how the Taguig local government, which is being led by Senator Cayetano’s wife, Lani Cayetano, could be completely unaware that their city engineer was living such an incredibly lavish lifestyle and gambling with that massive amount of money.