Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has confirmed that a ₱355-million flood control project was allocated this year to the Bulacan First Engineering District Office, following revelations made in congressional hearings on alleged anomalous infrastructure projects.

Lacson said his office immediately verified the figure after former DPWH Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez testified in the House Tri-Committee hearing that the same amount was tied to projects allegedly endorsed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

“We also discovered, kasi pinatingnan ko agad, kasi binanggit ni Brice Hernandez, exact amount. I’m saying this, this is just an allegation — di umano ni Senator Estrada sa Bulacan, sa First District man kung saan,” Lacson said during Kapihan sa Senado.

Hernandez Testimony

Under contempt during the House inquiry, Hernandez admitted knowledge of questionable projects in Bulacan, linking officials to a network of alleged “ghost projects” and irregular fund allocations.

“Si Senator Jinggoy po ay nagbaba ng ₱355 million ngayong 2025 sa ilang project sa Bulacan, at sabi po ng boss ko rito ay 30% ang commitment dito,” Hernandez testified, also naming Senator Joel Villanueva, DPWH Undersecretary Robert Bernardo, and former Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara in his statement.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has since strongly denied the accusations, branding Hernandez as a “liar and thief” in a privilege speech at the Senate. Estrada insisted he had no role in the alleged anomalies and vowed to go after those who, he said, were deflecting blame.

The ₱355-million allocation is now expected to be scrutinized further and will check all the records to be able to identify and verify who the legislator is.

“Now, we would like to find out, kasi alam nyo naman yung kalakaran sa budget deliberation dito. Kasi kung walang record dyan, paano matukoy kung sino yung legislator, congressman man o senador, na nag-insert o nag-amend? Walang record eh,” Lacson said.