Camille Naredo

Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson during the proclamation for the winning senators of the recently concluded Halalan 2025 on  May 1, 2025 

Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson during the proclamation for the winning senators of the recently concluded Halalan 2025 on  May 1, 2025 at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel. handout, Panfilo Lacson Medfia Team

Article (news)

PH-SENATE

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday clarified that there are P79 billion worth of ghost flood control projects from 2016 to 2025, and not P180 billion as previously announced.&quot;Right now, ang huling computation namin, nasa mga P79 billion,&quot; said Lacson, noting that the initial figure of P180-B was an &quot;extrapolation.&quot; &quot;Lumalabas na  parang 494 (ghost projects) ang total, not 600-plus,&quot; he also said. &quot;P79-B is still huge. Considering that we&#x27;re talking of &#x27;yung naabot ng AMLC so far, as announced by the president, nasa P12-B pa lamang &#x27;yung frozen accounts.&quot;&quot;Ghost pa lang &#x27;yan, wala pang substandard. Wala pa itong mga road projects. Wala pa itong multi-purpose buildings. Flood control pa lang &#x27;yan,&quot; Lacson also pointed out.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/2/afp-identifies-252-ghost-flood-projects-after-country-wide-inspection-1318">READ: AFP identifies 252 &#x27;ghost&#x27; flood projects after country-wide inspection</a></div>Lacson said in a previous press release that more than P180-B have likely been lost to ghost flood control projects dating back to 2016, not counting substandard ones.Lacson and Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian arrived at this estimate based on some 10,000 projects inspected so far, where more than 600 were found to be ghost or nonexistent.Lacson now wants the Ombudsman to tap the private sector in tracking down these ghost projects.He also maintained that the Senate will not allow this to happen again in the 2026 budget: &quot;Nakabantay kami.&quot;&quot;That&#x27;s why, kung nakita niyo kahapon, very transparent, and we will maintain it that way, all the way hanggang bicam,&quot; he added.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/22/-not-an-isolated-case-lacson-scoffs-at-dpwh-s-excuse-over-ghost-flood-control-projects-1845">READ: Lacson scoffs at DPWH&#x27;s excuse over &#x27;ghost&#x27; flood control projects</a></div>Gatchalian also reiterated on Wednesday that there will not be any &quot;ghost projects&quot; in the 2026 national budget. &quot;Dito sa 2026 budget, kung makikita nyo yung committee report, merong old title, tapos may revised title. Revised title, nandoon na lahat ng mga station numbers, nandoon na rin yung haba, even for irrigation projects at farm-to-market roads. So, kaya nakalagay na yun sa GAA para number one, malaman yung cost ng project, number two, malaman yung haba ng project, and at number three, location ng project. So, hindi na mangyayari yung ghost  project dahil sa batas pa lang, alam na yung location,&quot; he said.However, he declined to comment on Lacson&#x27;s assertion that P79-B in state funds were spent on ghost projects from 2016 to 2025. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the figure is a big amount.&quot;P79-B, ang laki niyan. If you&#x27;re talking about budget ng DPWH … that&#x27;s 10% of the DPWH budget,&quot; he said. &quot;But one ghost project is a ghost project. Kahit na isa lang &#x27;yan, dapat hindi na nangyari.&quot;&quot;So hindi na maulit &#x27;yan sa 2026 budget,&quot; he stressed.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday clarified that there are P79 billion worth of ghost flood control projects from 2016 to 2025, and not P180 billion as previously announced.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday clarified that there are P79 billion worth of ghost flood control projects from 2016 to 2025, and not P180 billion as previously announced.

Lacson clarifies: P79-B worth of 'ghost' flood control projects from 2016-2025

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Lacson clarifies: P79-B worth of 'ghost' flood control projects from 2016-2025

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 03, 2025 04:53 PM PHT

Read More:

Philippine Senate

Ping Lacson

flood control scam

flood control scandal

corruption

ghost projects

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