Palace: Let evidence speak

Malacañang on Wednesday said evidence, rather than statements by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon or pressure from political personalities, would determine whether anomalies exist in flood-control projects in Taguig City.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Marcos administration would not dictate the direction of Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s investigation into questioned projects in the city.

She added that Dizon remained under the President’s authority as head of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“Senator Lacson does not allow himself to be dictated to, and the administration will not dictate either,” Castro said in Filipino.

She said Dizon had already clarified his earlier statement that the DPWH had found no ghost projects in Taguig.

“Whether Secretary Vince Dizon says something or nothing about this, the evidence will still speak if there really are anomalies in Taguig City,” Castro said.

She added that Dizon should not be blamed solely for his earlier remarks because the investigation remained evidence-driven.

Dizon came under scrutiny after telling a Senate budget hearing on 25 September, in response to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, that the DPWH had found no ghost projects in Taguig based on its investigation.

DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III said the department had listed 107 projects in the city, all with reported accomplishments.

Lacson later challenged the statement using DPWH’s own inspection reports, including one involving a Taguig project whose billing photographs allegedly carried coordinates in Leyte, around 600 kilometers away.

The senator warned Dizon against any cover-up, saying officials could face criminal liability if they deliberately concealed anomalous projects. Dizon subsequently called Lacson and clarified that his earlier answer referred to projects already conclusively established as ghost projects.

On Tuesday, Lacson welcomed the clarification, agreeing that preliminary inspection findings do not automatically establish that a project is fictitious while stressing that they also do not prove that no ghost projects exist in Taguig.

Dizon separately denied any cover-up on Wednesday, saying the DPWH would “go where the evidence leads us.” The agency has already submitted initial findings involving several Taguig projects to the Office of the Ombudsman.