MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Sunday said he is gathering information and evidence against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano after their public exchange over wealth, budget allocations and alleged corruption intensified.
Lacson said on X that his integrity was his “first and last line of defense” and accused Cayetano of attacking it. He added that informants and witnesses had offered to provide information that could support corruption allegations against the former Senate president.
The exchange began after Cayetano claimed in a Facebook livestream on Saturday that the net worth of Lacson and Sen. Erwin Tulfo had doubled.
Lacson responded that his net worth increased from P50.7 million in 2022 to P244.9 million in 2025, saying the increase came from legitimate real estate transactions and other business activities.
Lacson also accused Cayetano of inserting P6.79 billion into the 2025 General Appropriations Act and alleged there were “ghost” projects in Taguig City. He said 68 of the 70 projects funded through the alleged insertions had already been implemented, with only about P75 million remaining unobligated.
Cayetano denied the allegations, saying there were no ghost projects in Taguig. He cited a 2025 statement from the Office of the Ombudsman and challenged Lacson to examine projects in other highly urbanized cities instead of focusing on Taguig.
Cayetano also questioned Lacson’s call to have him jailed, saying personal disagreements should not be the basis for criminal accusations.
The dispute comes as Malacañang also challenged Cayetano’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected his proposal to provide P10,000 in financial assistance to Filipino families recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said the government would present evidence to refute Cayetano’s allegation and accused the senator of spreading baseless claims.
Cayetano said he proposed the cash assistance before the 2022 elections and later filed Senate Bill No. 62, or the proposed “Sampung Libong Pag-asa Law,” after returning to the Senate. The measure remained pending at the committee level until the 19th Congress ended in 2025.
The senator renewed the issue after President Marcos announced a new assistance program providing up to P12,000 over seven months to 7.5 million poor and near-poor families affected by rising fuel prices linked to the Middle East conflict.