Lacson: Lino Cayetano willing to testify on ‘ghost projects’
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Monday that People’s Television Network General Manager Lino Cayetano, the youngest sibling of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and also a former Taguig mayor and representative, has volunteered to share what he knows about “ghost projects” in the city, the political bailiwick of the Cayetanos.
“Someone told me, through an intermediary, that Lino wanted to cross over and asked if he could contact me because he wants to help in the investigation since he said he knows many ghost projects in Taguig,” Lacson said in a radio interview with hosts Ted Failon and DJ Chacha.
“We will look into those to show that there are ghost projects in Taguig,” he said, adding that his office has been looking into “defective projects” involving companies linked to private contractors Pacifico and Cezarah Discaya when Alan Peter was the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Lacson said he would not “invent or fabricate evidence“ and just “exert extra effort” to back his findings.
Alan Peter later took to Facebook live to respond to Lacson’s latest statements against him.
“All over the Philippines, all over Metro Manila, there are lots of floods but here in our city, everything is orderly. Still, we are the one being investigated. They say there are Discaya projects,” he said.
“But who has a picture with the Discayas? Isn’t it Sen. Ping Lacson? But I’m the one being investigated, not him,” he added.
The two have been trading accusations since Friday, when Alan Peter said Lacson’s net worth had doubled over the years.
Lacson responded by saying his net worth had, in fact, quadrupled although his earnings came from legitimate sources. He also said that Alan Peter belongs in jail for corruption, adding that he was investigating alleged ghost projects in Taguig.
NBI parallel probe
Following Lacson’s revelations, the National Bureau of Investigation said it has also started looking into the matter.
“We’re already investigating,” NBI Director Melvin Matibag told reporters in an ambush interview on Monday.
“In 2022, he [Alan Peter] had 11 projects there that were somehow related to the top 15 named contractors. We will investigate them… But since you asked, you might say it’s all about the timing again. Anyway, it’s already public because Senator Lacson mentioned it. So, I think we should mention it,” Matibag said.
The NBI earlier launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, saying it would subpoena former officials of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), which Alan Peter then chaired.
Intimidation tactic?
The move was criticized by Alan Peter and his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, who said it was meant to intimidate them as senator-judges in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Matibag told reporters on Monday that the NBI may need to subpoena Alan Peter should he be implicated by Phisgoc officials.
He said they would also verify why Alan Peter’s name was not listed in the board of directors even though he himself recently declared that he served as Phisgoc chair.
“Lawyers will tell you that before you can become chairman, you must be a member of the board. If you are not a member of the board, how did you become chairman?” Matibag said.
