The Senate minority bloc, led by Senator Alan Cayetano, has allegedly attempted to derail the resumption of the flood control probe in the face of Senator Ping Lacson’s parallel investigation into purported anomalous projects in Taguig, Cayetano’s bailiwick. 

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chair Erwin Tulfo declined to name names, though he said it is “obvious” who might be behind the effort.

“Actually, to tell you the truth, it’s the other camp that’s blocking [the reopening of the investigation]. It’s not us in the majority,” Tulfo told reporters partly in Filipino.

“Realtalk, they are now the ones pleading with us not to proceed with the Blue Ribbon. And I was saying that if that’s the case, you should say that…You have to explain it to the media, to the public, that you don’t want it,” he added. 

Tulfo’s remarks were made in reaction to Lacson’s turning over the findings by his office to the Ombudsman earlier Tuesday, with the hopes of plunder, graft, and malversation charges being filed against the alleged perpetrators of anomalous flood control projects in Taguig.

In recent weeks, Lacson explicitly linked Cayetano to “ghost” and substandard infrastructure projects in Taguig, while others allegedly had duplicate budgets of approximately P100 million each. 

He claimed that the scheme flourished in 2020, when Cayetano was still the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

The flagged projects allegedly involve misrepresenting an illegal reclamation project as slope protection structures, several ghost projects, double funding, and the recycling of photos from previously completed contracts to justify billing and collection of payments for purportedly new projects. 

From 2020 to 2025, Taguig accumulated a whopping P14.4 billion in infrastructure projects, according to Lacson. 

Lacson alleged that the anomalies in Taguig are “something else” compared to Bulacan, which was derided as the “most notorious” in the alleged corruption scheme involving flood control projects.

Cayetano, in response, said it was “far off” to compare Taguig to Bulacan, arguing that Taguig is flood-free. 

He also rebuked Lacson’s allegations as “malicious” and overly broad. Nonetheless, the erstwhile Senate leader vowed to confront the accusations head-on. 

Lacson and Cayetano have been locked in a word war since May, although tensions only escalated after the latter questioned the sharp increase in Lacson’s net worth from 2022 to 2025 despite not being in public office. 

As a result, Lacson officially declared war on Cayetano and vowed to investigate all of his pet projects, including flood control.

Initially, the findings were supposed to be referred to the BRC, but Lacson said submitting them directly to the Ombudsman would save time and speed up the case against Cayetano. 

Tulfo, on the other hand, said the BRC remains open to launching a parallel investigation into the purported anomalous projects in Taguig should Lacson furnish the committee with the findings.

The panel plans to reopen the investigation next week, but the lack of members keeps it in limbo.