Retribution combined with restitution ought to be the guiding principle for the government when addressing the misconduct of officials and contractors involved in irregular flood control and other infrastructure initiatives, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.
Lacson said the approach will allow those convicted to receive shortened jail terms if they return at least 80 percent of the stolen public funds.
He said the government — and taxpayers — can potentially get back an initial P26 billion from contracted flood control ghost projects worth P629 billion between 2023 and 2025.
“If all those responsible — contractors, politicians, and Department of Public Works and Highways officials — will return just 80% of their loot after a plea bargaining agreement in exchange for shortened jail terms, easily the Filipino people can recover at least P26 billion,” Lacson said.
“Imagine the hundreds of billions in taxpayers’ money that we may be able to recover out of all the other similarly corrupted infrastructure projects,” he added.
But he said those conducting the investigations — including the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, and the judiciary — will have a key role to ensure convictions.
“Everything depends on the political will of those conducting the investigations, like the ICI, Ombudsman, DOJ, and the judiciary. The President can take the lead and initiative to pursue the direction towards this end. Anyway, he was the triggering mechanism with his famous ‘Mahiya naman kayo’ line in his July 28, 2025 State of the Nation Address,” Lacson said.
The senator said while plea bargaining can be pursued, the formula of restitution and retribution should not be taken as a compromise.
“The government may direct its investigation toward this formula. For instance, you cannot expect those involved to cooperate without plea bargaining. Although plea bargaining is not common in the Philippines, the lawyers of the government and those involved can pursue that,” he said.
“But there should be no compromise because we are talking about restitution plus retribution. No one should go free just because they returned their ‘loot.’ That is very unfair,” he added.
Lacson said the government can also recover more by going after the insurance companies of the anomalous infrastructure projects.
A similar formula can be pursued by the agencies concerned in dealing with other anomalous infrastructure projects, including farm-to-market roads, school buildings, and multipurpose buildings, Lacson said.
