Lacson calls for inter-agency probe on accusations linking Cabinet execs to flood control mess

Instead of "prematurely" dismissing the accusations, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson has called on Malacañang to conduct an inter-agency investigation into allegations linking top government officials to the flood control controversy.

Lacson made the remarks after  Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro dismissed the allegations of Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste that some Cabinet secretaries backed the infrastructure budget insertions in 2025 as "hearsay" with "no probative value."

"Instead of pursuing an honest-to-goodness inter-agency investigation by using whatever probative value was unearthed mainly from the Senate blue ribbon committee hearings, to prematurely dismiss the probable involvement of some members of the Cabinet as 'hearsay' may be interpreted as a euphemism for 'cover-up,'” Lacson said in a statement.

Lacson, chairperson of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said the evidence generated by the Senate panel include "testimonies, supported by official documents in the budget books like lists of items that corroborate the testimonies of resource persons whose involvement in the plunder of public funds have been clearly established through their admission against interest and under oath at that."

He also cited the possible discovery of the “web of accounts” that would lead to the movements of funds as initiated by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

"In the final analysis, we cannot blame the public, led by the Catholic Church, other religious sectors and civil groups for their unrelenting display of anger and distrust in government," the lawmaker added.

'Unacceptable'

For her part, Castro said it is "unacceptable" to insinuate Malacañang is covering up for someone as she clarified the computer files the late undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral supposedly provided Leviste have yet to be authenticated and therefore, remain "hearsay and without probative value."

"There is nothing in our statements that questions the pieces of evidence that had already been discovered through the hearings conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which he chairs," said Castro.

The Marcos administration and all relevant investigative bodies, including the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), are coordinating to gather evidence to implicate those involved in the flood control scandal, she added.

"Rule of law should always be observed and mere hearsay evidence is generally inadmissible and has no room to be entertained," said Castro.

"It is not acceptable to insinuate that the Palace is 'covering-up' for someone," she added.

Leviste previously said late undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral supposedly provided him with computer files, which reportedly contain information on proponents involved in DPWH budget insertions, prior to her death.

Earlier, Leviste released a portion of the so-called "Cabral files" which showed the "allocable" or the budget allocated to DPWH projects in certain districts, totaling to P401.3 billion. This supposedly ballooned to P1.041 trillion because of the "outside allocable."

He also released some documents – composed of more than 60 screenshots – on his Facebook page on Christmas Day. The allocations are worth more than P3.5 trillion, which Leviste said translated to P130,000 per Filipino family. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News