Lacson: P3.713B may have been wasted on Taguig reclamation projects

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated P3.713 billion in public funds have possibly been wasted on flood control and infrastructure projects built along alleged illegal reclamation areas of the Laguna lakeshore in Taguig City, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.

In a statement, Lacson, citing official records and Senate investigations, said the multibillion-peso figure covers completed, ongoing and suspended Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects built within the reclamation areas.

"These do not include other anomalous Slope Protection and Flood Mitigation projects along Taguig river involving double appropriations and 'ghost' projects using recycled photographs in different 'completed' projects, for billing purposes," Lacson said.

Lacson said the findings would be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman. Detailed findings, he said, are supported by official government records, dismissing potential claims that the disclosures are unsubstantiated.

"Pag ganito ka-detalyado at may pinaghugutan pang official records, mahirap sigurong paniwalaan na 'fake news,'" Lacson said.

(When it's this detailed and backed by official records, it's probably difficult to believe that it's "fake news.")

On August 30, as part of Lacson's probe into alleged unlawful infrastructure projects in Taguig, the lawmaker identified four parcels of allegedly illegally reclaimed land covered by what he described as "fraudulently" issued titles, while at least four other parcels allegedly had no plotted title lots in the digital records of the Land Registration Authority.

He posted details of the allegedly fraudulent land titles in Taguig's lakeshore development to counter Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano's dismissal of the allegations as false. Cayetano hails from Taguig, where his family members have held top city posts for years.

Lacson said the four properties consisted of two covered by Original Certificates of Title: a 9,204-square-meter lot under an administrative patent and a 5,000-square-meter lot secured through judicial land registration.

The other two were covered by Transfer Certificates of Title and measured 181,077 square meters and 193,027 square meters, respectively.