Senator Alan Cayetano lashed out Friday at a “senator-judge-troll” whose purported penchant for repeated attacks in his political bailiwick, Taguig, was allegedly not motivated by a desire to purge corruption but by an ambition to become president. 

Cayetano stopped short of naming names, but his remarks came shortly after Senator Ping Lacson announced that “several crates of documents” from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) linked to alleged anomalous projects in Taguig were to be turned over to the Ombudsman.

The latest batch adds to the documentary evidence that Lacson’s office submitted to the Ombudsman in late July, recommending plunder, graft, and malversation. The findings resulted from Lacson’s independent probe into infrastructure projects in Taguig, which allegedly included “ghost” and substandard projects, while others were double-billed. 

Cayetano did not explicitly tag Lacson, but he condemned efforts of what he called a “senator-judge-troll” who allegedly developed a habit of smearing him and dragging Taguig into alleged kickbacks in government infrastructure projects. 

The minority leader derided the supposed attacks against Taguig as recycled rhetoric, no substance, and a deliberate smear campaign.

“He’s not after justice or purging corruption; he just wants to smear,” Cayetano said in Filipino in a Facebook live. “I try to understand. Maybe his credibility and his strategy took a hit [or] perhaps he became obsessed because he wanted so badly to become president.” 

Lacson ran twice for president, in 2004 and 2022, but lost both times. 

Previously, Cayetano also branded Lacson as “Marites” (gossip monger) as strong pushback against the latter’s new probe findings alleging that Taguig illegally claimed portions of Laguna Lake. 

Lacson revealed Friday that the Land Registration Authority is backtracking on records of several uncovered land titles covering 38.83 hectares of illegally reclaimed areas on the Taguig side of Laguna Lake at his request.

“[W]e will find out how they were manipulated with the end in view of filing criminal charges against those responsible,” Lacson said.

The recent findings by Lacson’s office allegedly involved “ghost” slope protection projects and the illegal reclamation activities by Taguig in portions of Laguna Lake. Lacson pledged to forfeit them in favor of the government and send culprits behind the “grossly anomalous and patently illegal activities” behind bars. 

Earlier, Lacson cited evidence linking Cayetano to reclamation projects along Taguig’s lakeshore development that purportedly lacked the required permits from agencies including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The projects, he alleged, were funded using the national budget meant for slope protection projects, but officials who had knowledge of them were too “harassed and intimidated” to speak during the previous budget hearings.

According to Lacson, the evidence points to Cayetano virtually controlling DPWH operations and related activities in Taguig, with district engineers facing possible dismissal if they acted without his approval, as well as a purported 33 percent kickback scheme in the city's infrastructure projects.

Cayetano had already debunked Lacson’s allegations, saying the Bicutan lakeshore remains under government control and is designated as a public park. He added that the projects spanned three administrations—Aquino, Duterte, and Marcos Jr.—and were undertaken through government-to-government coordination.

Lacson earlier alleged that public funds involved in the alleged anomalous projects in Cayetano's turf totaled P14.4 billion, covering the period from 2020—when Cayetano was still the Speaker of the House of Representatives—to 2025. 

The scheme allegedly involved recycling photos from previously completed contracts to justify billing and collect payments for purportedly new projects. 

Cayetano has repeatedly dismissed Lacson’s allegations of ghost projects in Taguig as "sweeping" and "overboard," though he has maintained that he will confront the allegations head-on.