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Marc Jayson Cayabyab - The Philippine Star
March 8, 2026 | 12:00am
Senator Ping Lacson on January 14, 2026.
STAR / Ryan Baldemor
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson yesterday defended his decision not to hold a Blue Ribbon inquiry into the claims of 18 alleged former soldiers that they delivered P805 billion in flood control kickbacks to certain politicians.
In justifying his decision, Lacson said he is concerned the 16 Marines and two other soldiers would just use the hearing to spread lies about their claim that they personally transported luggage containing cash to fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co and several officials, including President Marcos.
“The tale of P805-billion maletas: If you do not know how to compute the truth, don’t talk about numbers to quantify probabilities or face the consequence of failing the test of believability,” Lacson said on X.
On calls for him to schedule a hearing so that the 18 would “fall flat on their lies,” Lacson said the Blue Ribbon panel’s hearings are meant to ferret out the truth.
Lacson earlier flagged what he called the mathematical impossibility of transporting a huge amount that could weigh a staggering 805 metric tons of bank notes.
He stressed the “logistical nightmare” of the operation to transport that much money, that could only fit in 13,416 large suitcases weighing a total 53.6 tons.
Lacson calculated that unloading, counting and delivering such huge amount of cash would take until mid-2028 if it started in 2023, or until mid-2027 if the process started in the second half of 2022 when Co took over the chairmanship of the House appropriations committee.
He also pointed out a major discrepancy by comparing the country’s actual cash supply of P2.7 trillion in 2024 with the alleged P805-billion kickbacks.
He also questioned the timing of the soldiers’ exposé, as it was done during the week of the hearings on the confirmation of charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte and the 40th anniversary of the People Power Revolution.
