P805 Billion in Cash? Lacson Calls BS — But the Rot Reaches the Palace

Ghost Billions, Ex-Marines, and the Math That Insults Your Intelligence

By Louis “Barok” C. Biraogo | February 26, 2026

BEHOLD, Club Filipino. The very stage where Cory Aquino swore to bury the sins of the father. Forty years later, on its eve, lawyer Levito “Levi” Baligod and eighteen “former Marines” in fatigues drop the mother of all bombshells: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. allegedly ordered suitcases of cash—P805 billion worth—from anomalous flood control projects, hand-delivered to Martin Romualdez, Zaldy Co, and the usual suspects. The timing? Immaculate. The math? Insulting. The theater? Oscar-worthy.

Let us, with the scalpel of truth and the rage of a people who bury children in mud every rainy season, dissect this grotesque performance.

***“18 Ex-Marines Walk Into a Bar… of Perjury”***

1. Suitcase Math: Where P805 Billion Defies Physics and Basic Decency

P805 billion. Not pesos in some spreadsheet. Cash. Physical. Suitcase money.

Lacson’s arithmetic is merciless and correct: total flood control appropriations 2023-2025 hover around nearly P1 trillion (with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) receiving around P980.25 billion for such projects). If Zaldy Co alone pocketed P805 billion, that is 62-70% of the entire pot—meaning almost every dike, every revetment, every floodgate in the republic was a ghost. And to move that cash? At P50-70 million per large suitcase (generous estimate, because even bundling P1,000 bills neatly is an art), you need over 13,000 suitcases. Picture it: a convoy longer than the EDSA Shrine procession, 18 ex-Marines huffing and puffing like overloaded porters at NAIA, security vans disguised as delivery trucks for lechon. One flat tire and the entire operation becomes the most expensive comedy in Philippine history.

Heroic whistleblowing? Or political theater dressed in camouflage and EDSA nostalgia? The venue, the date, the ICC hearings on Duterte’s drug war—all screaming “symbolic stagecraft.” They chose the exact spot where the old dictator fell to remind us the new one is allegedly repeating the family business. Cute. But symbolism without evidence is just expensive cosplay.

2. Lacson’s Math, Baligod’s Bombshells, Marcos’ Silence — Pick Your Poison

Senator Ping Lacson

The self-appointed arithmetic sheriff. His “destabilization bid” line is half-right: the timing stinks of opportunism, as he stated in his reaction to the fresh allegations in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. But the other half? Classic deflection. The man who once grilled pork-barrel kings now dismisses a scandal involving his own chamber’s insertions as “mind-boggling” without demanding the one thing that matters—sworn testimony. Statesman guarding the Senate’s dignity, or loyalist shielding an embattled Palace? His math is gold. His refusal to convene Blue Ribbon yesterday is tin.

The Accusers – Levi Baligod and the 18 “ex-Marines”

Baligod earned stripes exposing Janet Napoles. That credit is real. But pairing with fugitive Zaldy Co (the same Co whose firms allegedly cornered billions, now singing like a canary from hiding) raises eyebrows. The AFP/Navy already debunked four of the eighteen as never having been Marines; most of the rest carry dishonorable baggage. Credible patriots or convenient bagmen-turned-whistleblowers with score to settle? The P56-million ICC bribe claim via Trillanes is either the nuclear revelation that blows the Duterte case wide open or the most desperate flourish in a script already overloaded with zeros, as alleged in the press conference coverage by The Manila Times.

Both sides swim in the same cesspool until proven otherwise.

3. Floodgate Sewage: Kickbacks, Ghosts, and the Same Old Thieves

This is not one suitcase scandal. This is “Floodgate” – the sequel to PDAF, bigger budget, same cast, as chronicled in the ongoing coverage of the flood control projects scandal in the Philippines.

Ghost projects? Check. COA flagged hundreds; the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) counted up to 80 projects ripe for plunder charges, with recent reports on anomalies in Bulacan worth over P325 million as detailed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Kickback culture? 20-40% standard – 25-30% to congressmen alone, per contractor testimonies.
Contractor cartel? Fifteen favored firms (Discaya clan, Sunwest, Co-linked) gobbled 20% of the pot (worth P100 billion+), as President Marcos himself disclosed that 20% of flood control projects worth P100B went to only 15 contractors.
Congressional insertions? Senators Estrada, Villanueva, Revilla, Escudero and their House cousins treating the budget like a personal ATM.
DPWH pipeline? Ex-Sec. Bonoan, Usec. Bernardo (now state witness), Engr. Alcantara (returned P180M, promised P300M more), Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo spilling on Villar-Bonoan schemes.

Money trail 101:

Unprogrammed funds (P214 billion freed) → congressional “insertions” → favored contractors → 20-40% cut → suitcase delivery from Valle Verde to Paoay, Malacañang, or Romualdez residences. The trail conveniently stops at the Palace gates. COA reports? Ignored. ICI recommendations? Circumscribed. Ombudsman? Paralyzed. The system is not broken; it is working exactly as designed – for the few, against the flooded many.

4. Puppet Strings & Palace Games: 2028 Edition

This is not about dikes. This is factional warfare with 2028 written all over it.

Marcos-Duterte alliance? Shattered, scorched-earth, 2028 blood feud in full swing—UniTeam is a corpse, and both families are dancing on it. The ICC bribe twist conveniently taints the tribunal while fracturing the UniTeam. VP Sara impeachment drums beating in the background. Opposition milking the outrage for relevance. Zaldy Co, cornered fugitive, suddenly the star witness against the very people who once protected him.

Lacson’s “destabilization” warning? Half shield for the administration, half genuine fear of another EDSA-style chaos that solves nothing. The real chessboard: keep the masses distracted with suitcases while the trillions keep flowing to the same dynasties and contractors.

5. Impeach, Audit, or Burn It Down: The Non-Negotiable To-Do List

Scenarios:

Fizzle – Navy debunk + no forensic trail = political embarrassment for accusers, business as usual.
Partial scalp – lower officials (Bernardo, Alcantara, some congressmen) thrown under the bus; Romualdez and Co sacrificed; Marcos untouched.
Impeachment earthquake – smoking-gun bank trails or more Marines flip with receipts.
Genuine reform (miracle scenario) – sunlight finally disinfects the Floodgate.

What Must Happen—Yesterday (No Excuses)

Senate Blue Ribbon hearing — summon all 18 ex-Marines under oath, verify military records on the spot, slap perjury charges at the first contradiction. Imee Marcos’ resolution is a weak start; turn it into a bloodbath of truth.
Independent forensic audit — bring in AMLC, COA, and private forensic accountants. Live-stream the money-tracing so no one can hide behind redactions.
Public transparency dashboard — every single flood-control project online: funds released, completion photos (before/after), inspection reports, contractor SALNs. Sunlight is the best disinfectant—make it mandatory.
Lifestyle checks for everyone named — Marcos, Romualdez, Co, senators, DPWH officials, their spouses, and every dummy corporation in the family tree. Show us the receipts or explain the sudden beach houses.
End the congressional insertions racket — kill the “for sale” budget line forever. Digitize procurement end-to-end. Make the 20% kickback culture a felony with real jail time—not just another Senate speech.

These aren’t polite suggestions. They’re the bare minimum to stop treating flood victims like collateral damage in the greed game.

Core demands:

Immediate sworn Senate investigation.
Radical transparency dashboard.
Accountability Without Exception
- If credible evidence ties the Palace to the kickbacks → impeachment is mandatory, not optional.
- If the claims are proven fabricated → charge the accusers with perjury and sedition.
  No favorites. No escapes. Facts decide who pays the price.
Systemic overhaul – no more “for sale” budget.
Remember the children swept away in Cagayan and Marikina. Flood control is not a profit center.

The Ultimate Question

Why, in a nation that drowns every rainy season, do those entrusted with building dikes build fortunes instead?

Because the real flood is not water. It is greed – systemic, bipartisan, dynastic, and until we demand forensic truth over press-conference theater, the suitcases will keep multiplying while the poor keep counting bodies.

The scalpel is out. The rot is exposed. Now, let sunlight and perjury do the rest.

— Barok has spoken.

Kweba ni Barok – where truth cuts deeper than any flood.