Malacañang on Monday called for a more thorough investigation into questioned flood-control projects in Taguig City, warning that any attempt to conceal irregularities would not be tolerated amid conflicting findings raised by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Taguig projects being questioned by Lacson were not among the 10 projects that Dizon said had already been conclusively established as ghost or nonexistent projects.

She stressed, however, that this did not clear the projects of possible anomalies.

“It does not mean there are anomalies in Taguig. He is also not saying there are none,” Castro said in Filipino.

She said the projects require a “more thorough and intensive investigation” because there should be no cover-up, adding that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants an investigation in which no one is protected or concealed, particularly political allies.

The Palace statement came days after Dizon told a Senate budget hearing that the DPWH had so far found no ghost projects in Taguig.

“Based on our investigation, there are none,” Dizon said when asked by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III said the department had identified 107 projects in Taguig and that all had reported accomplishments. Dizon nevertheless said the investigation was continuing. 

Lacson subsequently challenged Dizon’s statement, citing DPWH inspection reports that he said raised questions over projects reported as completed but whose physical presence could not be verified.

One case involved billing records for a Taguig project whose photographs allegedly carried geotags pointing to Leyte, around 600 kilometers away. Lacson asked Dizon to explain how the findings of his own department should not raise a ghost-project red flag. 

The senator has also cited a DPWH image-similarity analysis covering 15,523 photographs from 180 Taguig contracts between 2017 and 2025. The system flagged 1,079 image pairs for high visual similarity, although a similarity flag by itself does not establish that a project is fictitious.

Dizon-Cayetano ties

DAILY TRIBUNE reported Monday that the dispute has also renewed scrutiny of Dizon’s longstanding professional relationship with Cayetano and members of his family.

Dizon served as a consultant to Cayetano when the senator was Senate majority leader beginning in 2013. Their professional paths later crossed during preparations for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, when Cayetano chaired the organizing committee and Dizon headed the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, which developed New Clark City sports facilities. 

Dizon has also appeared at government activities with Cayetano family members over the years, including with Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano. In April, Dizon joined Alan Peter and Lani Cayetano in inspecting construction of Taguig’s new Hall of Justice. 

The documented relationships do not establish that they influenced the DPWH investigation.

Cayetano has accused Lacson of conducting a “demolition job,” “trial by publicity” and “witch hunt” against Taguig, while Lacson has continued releasing documents he says warrant further investigation.