The conclusion of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon that there are no ghost projects in Taguig City contradicts his own agency’s site inspection reports, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Friday evening.
Lacson expressed sympathy for the DPWH’s site inspection engineers, whose findings were contradicted by their own chief at the Senate finance subcommittee’s hearing on the DPWH’s proposed budget for 2027.
In Filipino: Lacson: ‘No Ghost Projects’ na Pahayag ni DPWH Sec Dizon, Salungat sa Site Inspection Reports ng Sariling Ahensya
“Poor DPWH Site Inspection Engineers. Their boss, Sec Vince Dizon directly contradicted their own site inspection reports in Taguig, specifically submitted by personnel from the department’s Bureau of Quality and Safety and Bureau of Maintenance,” he said in a post on X.
As for Dizon, Lacson said his memory may have been “clouded” by the “pressure” of work, as he pointed out the DPWH turned over to his Senate office records of projects that were “nonexistent but reported as completed.”
“Poor Vince Dizon. The ‘pressure’ of work may have clouded his memory. The DPWH already turned over to my Senate office records of nonexistent but reported as completed slope protection projects in Taguig. Like toothpaste squeezed from the tube, there’s no putting it back in,” he said in a separate X post early Saturday.
During the subcommittee hearing, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano had asked Dizon whether there were ghost projects in Taguig. Dizon said there were “none.”
Lacson said the statement was inconsistent with site inspection reports submitted by personnel from the DPWH’s Bureaus of Maintenance, Quality and Safety, Construction, and Research and Standards.
The inspection reports indicated, among others, that several Taguig flood control projects were declared as completed, yet the inspection teams were unable to validate their physical presence on site due to various reasons. Hence, conclusive findings regarding their physical presence could not be established.
Lacson also cited the DPWH’s data stemming from its “Analysis of Potential Similar Billing Photographs from 2017-2025 of Taguig projects using AI-Based Image Similarity Detection Approach.”
Of 15,523 images processed by the AI system, 1,079 pairs of images were flagged for high visual similarity.
The report involved 180 unique contracts, with the following contractors with the most number of projects that used similar billing photos:
Dahl Construction Corp., with 16 unique projects
L.R. Tiqui Builders Inc., with 12 unique projects
729 Construction Inc. (formerly 722 Construction), with 10 unique projects
RVR3 Construction Supply and Services, with 10 unique projects
Toughbuilt Construction & Trading Inc., with 9 unique projects
J. Simeon Construction, with 8 unique projects
Tuchar Construction Corp., with 7 unique projects
Bell Construction, with 6 unique projects
M3 Konstract Corp., with 5 unique projects
Zyre Trading and Construction, with 5 unique projects
Earlier, Lacson and his team formally submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman at least 45 case studies backed by official documents detailing “systemic anomalies” in flood control infrastructure projects in Taguig.
The Office of the Ombudsman has since launched a fact-finding investigation into the allegations involving the projects there.
Aside from this, Lacson and his team sent to the Ombudsman several pieces of evidence they have gathered so far on the illegal reclamation and infrastructure projects on the Taguig City side of Laguna Lake.
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Lacson: ‘No Ghost Projects’ na Pahayag ni DPWH Sec Dizon, Salungat sa Site Inspection Reports ng Sariling Ahensya
Ang konklusyon ni Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon na walang ghost projects sa Taguig City ay salungat sa mga site inspection report mismo ng kanyang ahensya, ani Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson Biyernes ng gabi.
Nagpahayag si Lacson ng pakikiramay sa mga site inspection engineer ng DPWH, na ang mga natuklasan ay sinalungat mismo ng kanilang hepe sa pagdinig ng Senate finance subcommittee hinggil sa panukalang badyet ng DPWH para sa 2027.
“Poor DPWH Site Inspection Engineers. Their boss, Sec Vince Dizon directly contradicted their own site inspection reports in Taguig, specifically submitted by personnel from the department’s Bureau of Quality and Safety and Bureau of Maintenance,” aniya sa isang post sa X.
Dagdag ni Lacson, maaaring may nalilimutan na si Dizon dahil sa “pressure” ng trabaho. Idiniin niya na mismong DPWH ang nagsumite sa kanyang tanggapan sa Senado ng mga rekord ng mga proyektong “nonexistent but reported as completed.”
“Poor Vince Dizon. The ‘pressure’ of work may have clouded his memory. The DPWH already turned over to my Senate office records of nonexistent but reported as completed slope protection projects in Taguig. Like toothpaste squeezed from the tube, there’s no putting it back in,” aniya sa isa pang post sa X Sabado ng umaga.
Sa pagdinig ng subcommittee, tinanong ni Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano si Dizon kung may ghost projects sa Taguig. Sinabi ni Dizon na “none” o wala.
Ayon kay Lacson, hindi tugma ang pahayag na ito sa mga site inspection report na isinumite ng mga tauhan ng DPWH Bureau of Maintenance, Quality and Safety, Construction, at Research and Standards.
Lumabas sa mga inspection report na maraming flood control projects sa Taguig ay dineklarang “completed” nguni’t hindi ma-validate ng mga inspection team ang “physical presence on site” dahil sa iba’t ibang dahilan.
Binanggit din ni Lacson ang datos mula sa “Analysis of Potential Similar Billing Photographs from 2017-2025 of Taguig projects using AI-Based Image Similarity Detection Approach” ng DPWH.
Mula sa 15,523 na imaheng na-process ng AI system, nakita na may mataas na visual similarity sa 1,079 pares ng mga larawan.
Kasama sa report ang 180 natatanging kontrata, kung saan ang mga sumusunod na contractor ang may pinakamaraming proyekto na gumamit ng magkakahawig na billing photos:
Dahl Construction Corp., 16 unique projects
L.R. Tiqui Builders Inc., 12 unique projects
729 Construction Inc. (dating 722 Construction), 10 unique projects
RVR3 Construction Supply and Services, 10 unique projects
Toughbuilt Construction & Trading Inc., 9 unique projects
J. Simeon Construction, 8 unique projects
Tuchar Construction Corp., 7 unique projects
Bell Construction, 6 unique projects
M3 Konstract Corp., 5 unique projects
Zyre Trading and Construction, 5 unique projects
Nauna rito, pormal na isinumite nina Lacson at ng kanyang team sa Office of the Ombudsman ang hindi bababa sa 45 case studies, na suportado ng mga opisyal na dokumento, hinggil sa kanilang inilalarawang “systemic anomalies” sa mga flood control infrastructure project sa Taguig.
Mula noon, nagsagawa na ang Office of the Ombudsman ng fact-finding investigation sa mga alegasyong may kaugnayan sa mga proyekto roon.
Bukod dito, nagsumite rin sina Lacson at ang kanyang team sa Ombudsman ng ilang ebidensyang nakalap nila hanggang ngayon kaugnay ng umano’y ilegal na reclamation at mga infrastructure project sa bahagi ng Laguna Lake na sakop ng Taguig City.
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