MANILA — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) have issued a cease-and-desist order against an unauthorized reclamation project along the Taguig City waterfront on Laguna de Bay, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed on Aug. 30, according to The Philippine Star. Dizon said the order, served on Aug. 20, followed explicit directives from the Office of the President to stop illegal earth-filling and coastal development activities in the area.
Speaking during a field inspection in Marikina, Dizon said the PRA — an agency attached to the Office of the President that oversees all reclamation civil works nationwide — had ordered the DPWH in an Aug. 17 letter to halt all unauthorized reclamation and infrastructure activity in Laguna de Bay. "A meeting has been called with key stakeholders, including the city government of Taguig, the Laguna Lake Development Authority and the Pasig River Urban Development Project," Dizon said, per The Philippine Star. "We will discuss the issues and determine the way forward, but all reclamation activities are ordered stopped effective immediately."
The move follows weeks of pressure from Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who chaired the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's inquiry into flood-control corruption and has separately raised concerns about the Taguig reclamation projects. Lacson said the cost of DPWH-funded projects in the disputed reclamation areas has reached ₱3.713 billion, and questioned why the projects proceeded without the required permits.
The order has also become the subject of a public dispute between senators. Philstar.com's Pilipino Star Ngayon reported that Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Lacson have continued to spar publicly over the reclamation projects, though the specific substance of that exchange had not been fully detailed in English-language coverage as of this writing.
Context
The Taguig cease-and-desist order lands amid intensified scrutiny of DPWH-linked infrastructure spending following the flood-control corruption scandal that triggered congressional and Ombudsman investigations throughout 2025 and 2026. It also follows a string of severe flooding events in Metro Manila — the Philippine Star separately reported that more than 8.1 million people nationwide have been affected by recent tropical cyclones and the enhanced southwest monsoon, with damage questions increasingly tied to how flood-prone waterways like Laguna de Bay are managed. The Senate committee on finance has said it will not approve new flood-control funding for the coming fiscal year until DPWH completes existing unfinished projects, according to the same Philippine Star report.
DPWH and PRA have not yet disclosed which contractors or private parties are behind the halted reclamation work, nor whether any administrative or criminal liability is being pursued over the lack of permits. Pulpulitiko will follow up as agencies release further details from the multi-agency coordination meetings Dizon said have been convened.