SENATE President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson welcomed Friday the move of the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct lifestyle checks on 26 lawmakers allegedly involved as contractors in government-funded projects.
Lacson said it was a “good development,” stressing that public officials who both allocate funds and benefit from the projects violate basic ethical standards in governance.
“If the Ombudsman has names and proof, it should investigate them because that is a clear conflict of interest. Imagine, you insert projects in the budget for projects where you are the contractor,” Lacson said in a radio interview, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
The lifestyle checks were ordered by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano. Clavano said the inquiry was based on the lawmakers’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), which were obtained and reviewed by the Ombudsman’s office.
The probe targets so-called “cong-tractors,” a term used to describe members of the House of Representatives who are allegedly linked to firms that implement government infrastructure projects — raising concerns about self-dealing and misuse of public funds.
Lacson renewed his call to investigate irregularities in flood control projects, particularly in Bulacan, which he mentioned in two privilege speeches last year.
“There were so many ghost projects there,” Lacson said, referring to infrastructure projects that reportedly received funding but were either incomplete or non-existent.
He cited testimonies from former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways, including Henry Alcantara and Roberto Bernardo, who alleged that massive funding was funneled into projects in Bulacan.
Lacson said a former member of the House of Representatives, Elizaldy "Zaldy" Co, allegedly diverted as much as P35 billion worth of projects to Bulacan between 2022 and 2025.
“Alcantara said that since Bulacan was bloated with projects, he was told to look for other provinces and contact district engineers there because the pouring of funds into Bulacan would become too obvious,” Lacson said.
He added that similar questionable flood control projects were also identified in nearby provinces, including Tarlac.
Lacson noted that while Co is currently facing charges related to a project in Naujan, the alleged irregularities in Bulacan have yet to be fully addressed. “Imagine, just one congressman poured in P35 billion in Bulacan. Yet the charge Co now faces is in relation to a project in Naujan. We’re not yet talking about Bulacan,” he said.
The Ombudsman’s ongoing investigation is expected to determine whether the lawmakers violated anti-graft and corruption laws, as scrutiny intensifies over the use of public funds in infrastructure projects.
Officials have yet to release the names of the 26 lawmakers under lifestyle checks.
