Philippine senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said several former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that are being probed over alleged links to flood control project irregularities, lost more than PHP950 million (US$16.6 million) in casinos across the country.
Senator Lacson said the dealings by five former officials may point to a scheme to launder ill-gotten funds from what he described as anomalous flood control projects, reported several local media outlets.
The official has been recently appointed as the Senate president pro tempore, which presides over the Senate in the absence of the president, as per the nation’s constitution. He has also been appointed as chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, which handles high-profile Senate investigations.
In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Lacson said cash-to-chips and chips-to-cash records showed billions of pesos in turnover under the names and aliases of DPWH officials and contractors.
He noted that the supposed “winnings” could be fabricated by simply exchanging cash for chips, playing minimal amounts, then cashing out to declare the money as gambling gains.
“This is not mere luck. It bears the hallmarks of a money laundering scheme,” Mr Lacson was quoted as saying by the official Philippine News Agency. He cited validated documents from the country’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor).
“Based on the documents we obtained from Pagcor, the casino losses of these five individuals are staggering, totalling PHP950 million in gross losses,” said the senator, according to the Philippine Inquirer news outlet.
He added: “These are based on official and validated records from no less than 13 casinos located in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga.”
The senator said his office submitted the names and aliases of those involved to the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), stressing that casinos are covered under the amended Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Mr Lacson also urged the AMLC to freeze the bank accounts of the officials involved and pursue prosecution.
The Philippine Senate has launched an investigation over the misuse of funds for flood control in the country. That was after a government-led investigation revealed a swathe of incomplete, substandard or non-existent projects, following the allocation of about PHP545 billion for flood control projects since 2022.
Earlier this week, two contractors being investigated named 18 lawmakers and government officials they accuse of demanding kickbacks. They said lawmakers had demanded between 10 percent and 25 percent of contract values, according to local media reports.
The case has led to a number of leadership changes across both the country’s Senate and the House of Representatives.
