SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Monday challenged the Taguig City government’s description of his video showing alleged continued illegal reclamation along the city’s Laguna Lake shoreline as “curated,” saying the footage came directly from a government inspection team that documented the site.
“Curated my foot! How can a raw video taken on site and sent to my office by the inspection team in the Lakeshore area of the Taguig side of Laguna Lake be misleading?” Lacson said on a social media post.
Lacson also cited another video from the inspection team that showed personnel of Barangay Tanyag dumping garbage in the area, questioning the city government’s claim that it had no knowledge of the activity and had issued no permit or authority for it.
“How can the LGU say it did not know when the LGU itself was the one doing the dumping?” he said.
“If private contractors are involved as alleged, all the more the city government must investigate because government resources were used to reclaim the land through the dumping of garbage,” he added.
On Friday, Lacson posted a video from a composite inspection team showing continued illegal reclamation in the Taguig Lakeshore area.
The team was composed of representatives from the Office of the Ombudsman, Philippine Reclamation Authority, Land Registration Authority, and Department of Public Works and Highways.
In the 25-second video, members of the inspection team were seen looking over the Taguig Lakeshore area, where garbage was also seen being dumped.
One inspector was heard asking whether the Laguna Lake Development Authority had personnel monitoring the area.
The Taguig local government denied that the area shown in Lacson’s video was land currently possessed or being used by the city.
It said the property was being claimed by private individuals and a neighborhood association.
“The City of Taguig did not issue any permit or authority in favor of any of the alleged private owners,” it added. “The curated footage is presented to the public alongside sweeping conclusions about ‘illegal reclamation’ and ‘impunity’ by someone who believes himself to be above the law,” the city government said.
Taguig said it supported efforts to establish the facts but warned against relying on unverified allegations.
“We must not allow unsubstantiated claims, misleading narratives, or innuendo to undermine the very cause we seek to advance. The fight against corruption must always be a fight for truth — not a contest of accusations,” it said.
The city is led by Mayor Lani Cayetano, wife of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and sister-in-law of Sen. Pia Cayetano.
Alan Cayetano, who serves as Senate minority leader, said he had no objection to government agencies investigating reclamation and infrastructure activities in Taguig.
“Ombudsman, Department of Justice, National Bureau of Investigation private citizens — investigate because that is your right,” Cayetano said. “What is not OK is Senator Lacson’s interference.”
