Sen. Panfilo Lacson flagged a possible double appropriation involving two P100-million allocations for the same slope protection project in Taguig under the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
On Wednesday, Lacson posted on X that his review of the 2025 GAA found three additional P100-million slope protection projects, bringing the total insertions to P2.385 billion. He stated that two of the P100-million items appeared to cover the identical project in Taguig, adding that one must be a ghost project.
Lacson had previously documented at least two suspected ghost infrastructure projects in Taguig linked to P2.085 billion in slope protection and drainage allocations out of P6.79 billion in overall budget insertions. The National Bureau of Investigation has begun examining the allegations.
Cayetano has denied the existence of ghost projects in Taguig and called on Lacson to investigate other cities as well. The Inquirer sought comment from Cayetano but had not received a response as of posting time.