SEN. Panfilo Lacson said that the “ghost hunt” mocked by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has turned up numerous questionable slope protection and flood mitigation projects along the Taguig River that the Ombudsman is now investigating.
In his latest livestream, Cayetano likened Lacson’s efforts to probe anomalous infrastructure in Taguig to “a ghost hunt.”
“True. It turned out that there were so many ‘ghost’ slope protection and flood mitigation projects along Taguig River. The Ombudsman is now investigating,” Lacson said in a social media post on Saturday.
Lacson and his team submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman at least 45 case studies backed by official documents detailing “systemic anomalies” in flood control works.
The studies include billing anomalies involving the use of duplicate or tampered photographs by different contractors to falsely claim project progress and justify payments.
In one case involving two projects along the Taguig River, the projects were built in consecutive years by the same contractor, but appeared to overlap at exactly the same location.
Another project had no supporting records, raising questions about whether it existed at all.
Records also showed deceptive project classifications in which land reclamation activities were presented as flood control projects.
In at least one project, full payouts were disbursed using fabricated billing documents for a nonexistent project located on illegally reclaimed land.
Based on the evidence submitted by Lacson, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said his office has started to look into the allegations of corruption in infrastructure projects in Taguig.
Lacson and Cayetano have been trading barbs over allegations involving flood control and land reclamation projects in Taguig, Cayetano’s bailiwick.
Cayetano had accused Lacson of launching a “demolition job,” “witch hunt” and “trial by publicity” against him.
In turn, Lacson said Cayetano “quakes in his shoes” whenever he sees the evidence he presents.
Lacson also cited information showing Taguig City government personnel were arrested by police on Friday after they tried to prevent Office of the Ombudsman investigators in Taguig City.
He described the arrest as “trying to act tough then meeting their match.” Friday’s incident was not the first reported case of harassment. Lacson had earlier cited reports that officials of agencies, including the Philippine Reclamation Authority, had been harassed while inspecting reclamation activities in the area.
On Friday, Cayetano urged officials of the Taguig City government to treat criticism as a challenge and to continue pursuing excellence.
Cayetano said the city officials must draw inspiration from their own constituents, during the 8th City Council Legislators’ Night.
“Let’s not get upset if anyone pushes us to be better, to do more; there are those who are angry because it’s not yet perfect. We’ve gone so far, but there’s so much more work to do,” Cayetano said.
“Let’s be upset if it’s a witch hunt, if it’s a demolition job. That’s so wrong and too much. But let’s take it as an inspiration when people want us to do better,” he said.
The senator, whose wife is Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, also acknowledged present and former city officials for “planting the right seeds” that contributed to the city’s progress over the years.
Cayetano cited the city’s progress in flood control despite Taguig covering a larger land area than most cities in Metro Manila.
“Flood control in Taguig has come a long way. Before, the flooding would last three to four months and reach neck-deep levels,” he said.
Despite these gains, Cayetano urged city officials to continue pursuing excellence and constantly “remake” Taguig, citing Singapore as an example.
Singapore continues to perform well in health, education, safety and other measures of human development because its citizens keep demanding more from their government, he said.
