Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson clarified that more than P79-billion has likely been lost to ghost flood control projects dating back to 2016, not counting substandard ones.

Lacson said that the initial figure of P180-B was an “extrapolation.”

Lacson said this was based on an updated report submitted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs.

"The DPWH submitted to the Blue Ribbon Committee an updated report. Combined with the new data from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police inspection teams, it appears the number of ghost projects was 494 out of some 13,000 projects," he said.

He added that P79 billion is a huge amount, considering that the Anti-Money Laundering Council managed to freeze almost P12 billion worth of assets linked to the corruption behind the anomalous flood control projects.

Not even the amount restituted by former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara - P110 million last month with a potential P200 million more in the coming weeks - can make up for the P79 billion, he said.

"We have not yet started counting our losses to substandard projects," he said in an interview earlier Wednesday on DZBB radio.

He noted this renders minuscule the number of projects uncovered and tackled so far by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs. Lacson had also detailed the corruption behind substandard and ghost flood control projects in his privilege speeches last August and September.

Lacson urged the Ombudsman to deputize civil society organizations and the academe to help track down more ghost flood control projects, which he said are widespread - and would likely increase the amount lost to ghost projects.

The AMLC must also work harder to freeze the “web of accounts” of personalities linked to the corruption behind substandard and ghost flood control projects, he added.

Meanwhile, Lacson said the Blue Ribbon Committee remains ready to help relevant agencies like the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) in pursuing charges against those involved, if it gets new information.

"If new information is brought before the Committee, hopefully we can help the ICI, Ombudsman and DOJ," he said.

Meanwhile, Lacson said the Senate has started undoing some of the practices related to the anomalous flood control projects with its efforts to ensure transparency in crafting the budget.

He said the measures, including livestreaming the period of amendments and making public all senators' individual amendments, should block allocables, leadership funds, and other forms of pork barrel in the 2026 budget.

"There will be no room for allocables because we made the process transparent. If you watched our livestream Tuesday, we introduced individual amendments on the floor, unlike in the past when lawmakers just wrote their amendments on paper and passed it to the finance committee chairman," he said.

"We started this in the Senate yesterday. All individual amendments were introduced personally or read by Senate Finance Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian. Sen. Gatchalian read the individual amendments of 11 senators. He will now study which amendments to accept and which to reject," he added.

Earlier, Lacson scored allocables as the new pork barrel, after scrutinizing documents related to the 2025 budget, which he described as "corrupt to the core."

He said allocables, which allow items to be funded before they are identified by lawmakers, are in the National Expenditure Program - the proposed budget prepared by the Executive Department before it is submitted to Congress.

Also, Lacson said the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to simplify the bicameral conference committee proceedings, to tackle only the disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House versions of the budget bill - and not any "alien" provision inserted into either version.

On the other hand, he said Gatchalian will have the amendments and related details posted on the Senate website's transparency portal.

"This will be simpler and more transparent and that is our intention. In the bicam, we will ensure transparency, all the way to the bill being enrolled," he said.