Senators Dragged Into “Ghost” Flood Control Mess!

MANILA — The Senate is not off the hook in the brewing scandal over anomalous and “ghost” flood control projects!

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson dropped the bomb over the weekend, saying it’s not only congressmen who are guilty of stuffing the national budget with shady insertions — senators may also have dipped their hands into the pie.

“I’m not saying it’s just the House… Some senators may have also inserted projects and shared in the 25% ‘cut’ as funder or sponsor of these amendments,” Lacson revealed in a radio interview.

According to Lacson, lawmakers who insert projects often feel entitled to handpick contractors — a scheme that fuels corruption.“When you insert, you feel you have a royalty, a claim… and you insist on picking the contractor because you made the insertion,” he said.

The veteran senator stressed that transparency is the only way to expose who’s behind the shady budget deals. Without it, he warned, greed and arrogance will continue to breed “ghost projects” just like those uncovered in Bulacan.

“Hubris — they became too greedy, blinded by money, and pushed the racket so far that even ‘ghost projects’ were created just to pocket everything,” Lacson fumed.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted it discovered that at least four contractors bankrolled the campaigns of senatorial bets in 2022.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia confirmed they are probing if these contractors later bagged juicy government contracts.“Initially, three or four contractors were identified. Yes, they gave to senatorial candidates, but we’re verifying if they have current government deals,” Garcia said.

The revelation comes after Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero himself admitted receiving a ₱30-million campaign donation from his friend, the owner of Centerways Construction and Development Inc. — a firm that reportedly scored ₱100 billion worth of flood control projects since 2022, according to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Escudero, however, denied any wrongdoing, insisting he did not help Centerways get government contracts and dismissed the exposé as “black propaganda.”

With billions at stake and names of powerful politicians in the mix, the flood control controversy is now threatening to drown both chambers of Congress in yet another corruption storm.