Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano told the National Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, and Malacañang on Thursday to press forward with their look into the 2019 Southeast Asian Games — provided the Senate minority is cleared to open its own inquiry into the flood control scandal in exchange.
Framing the offer during a brief Facebook livestream on July 16, 2026, the minority leader tied his cooperation to a single term. He signaled that the opposition bloc is prepared to move quickly, saying it has already compiled the names of people it could summon should a flood control probe be allowed to proceed.
“Tapos ako naman, sampu ng aming mga kasama na ngayon ay nasa Minority, imbestigahan naman namin ang flood control. Ano, deal?” Cayetano said, according to a statement posted on his official website.
His challenge lands against the backdrop of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, which reached its sixth day this week at the Senate, where Cayetano sits as one of the senator-judges. The New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac, built for the regional meet, is now at the center of the NBI’s attention.
The bureau’s director, Melvin Matibag, has said his agency received information that roughly P10 billion in public money linked to the games was never properly liquidated, and that a private contractor secured the project through a congressional insertion without going through public bidding. As reported by the Manila Times, Cayetano acknowledged the NBI’s authority to examine the hosting but took issue with the decision to publicize the effort, arguing an agency can look into a matter without broadcasting it first.
Cayetano, who chaired the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee that ran the 30th edition of the games, has pushed back on the substance of the allegations. He contended the absence of bidding does not by itself point to wrongdoing, noting that procurement law permits several purchasing methods. He also redirected scrutiny toward the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, then led by Vince Dizon, now the public works secretary, telling reporters that infrastructure decisions rested with that agency rather than with him as a former organizing committee head.
Not everyone in the administration accepts his reading of events. The DOJ, through spokesperson Polo Martinez, said it respects the statements of both Cayetano siblings and maintained that the NBI — while an attached agency — retains enough operational independence to pursue cases it deems warranted under the law. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, for her part, cast the timing as coincidental, saying Matibag was asked about the reports during an ambush interview on a recent visit to Clark and could not ignore them once raised.
Senator Pia Cayetano, who once chaired the blue ribbon committee before Erwin Tulfo took over, accused Matibag of trying to rattle the senator-judges. She played a clip of the NBI chief’s remarks during Wednesday’s proceedings and questioned how he could already characterize the matter as a major case before any inquiry had run its course.
Matibag is expected to appear as a witness in the impeachment trial on July 22.
