Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson is convinced that Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan isn't a good leader after all.

This, as Lacson expressed dismayed over Bonoan's assertion that the extent of corruption involving flood control projects in Bulacan is an "isolated case".

"In my talks with some DPWH officials, both past and present, I didn’t hear any scathingly bad words about Sec Bonoan. But for him to claim that Bulacan is an isolated case, he doesn’t strike me as a good, effective leader of his department. Sayang (What a waste)," he said on X.

Lacson has debunked a claim by Bonoan that there is no ghost project in Sitio Dike in Barangay Apitong, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Bonoan said in a television interview that the project is supposedly in Barangay Apitong, and that there may have been "miscommunication" regarding locations.

According to Lacson, he based his information on the Sitio Dike ghost project--which he mentioned in his privilege speech last Aug. 20--on documents from the DPWH website itself, as well as from the grid coordinates from the Sumbong sa Pangulo website.

The DPWH website information showed that the "Flood management program-construction/maintenance of flood mitigation structures and drainage systems - Construction of road dike along Mag-Asawang Tubig River, Sitio Dike, Brgy. Apitong Section, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro" - an item funded under the 2024 General Appropriations Act - was awarded to Elite General Contractor and Development Corp. for P192,996,270, and was listed as "Completed" as of March 2025.

"We culled the information from the DPWH, which indicated the supposed project was 'completed,'" Lacson noted.

He added the contract was worth P192.99 million. Lacson's staff learned from local barangay officials that there was no such project when they went there to verify.

"Eksakto ang lokasyon na aming pinuntahan sapagkat consistent din ito sa lokasyon na nakalathala sa DPWH, at sa exact coordinates sa ‘Sumbong sa Pangulo’ website. Guni-guni o guni-guni? (My staff went to the exact location indicated in the DPWH website and the coordinates in the Sumbong sa Pangulo website. So is it a ghost project or is it a ghost project)?" he had said in his privilege speech.

Also last week, the veteran senator similarly disproved Bonoan's claim that the failed and ghost flood control projects in Bulacan's first engineering district were an isolated case.

In his privilege speech last Aug. 20, Lacson outlined the corruption behind corrupted flood control projects not just in Bulacan but also in other provinces such as Pampanga, La Union and Oriental Mindoro.

"When you say it is an isolated case, it sounds like a defense mechanism. It suggests you don’t intend to conduct a full-scale and comprehensive investigation. And I expected that, so I had my teams check projects in other areas," Lacson said.