LAWMAKERS belonging to the militant Makabayan bloc yesterday urged the House of Representatives to pass a resolution urging the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct an “immediate” and “comprehensive” review of all flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2016.
Party-list Reps. Antonio Tinio (ACT) and Renee Co (Kabataan) said COA should be the one to undertake the audit because DPWH “cannot be trusted to investigate itself when it is neck-deep in these anomalies.”
“We welcome the call to probe and audit flood control projects following the massive flooding that hit Metro Manila and surrounding areas despite the billions allocated for flood mitigation. However, we strongly oppose any move to let the Department of Public Works and Highways conduct its own investigation,” they said in a statement.
Tinio said the DPWH cannot be trusted to investigate itself “when it is neck-deep in these anomalies.”
“This is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse,” he said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, ordered the DPWH to review all completed, failed, unfinished, and even “ghost” flood control projects within the last three years, and submit to him a complete list. He said someone would be held accountable for the recent flooding incidents in the country.
Co asked how the DPWH can conduct an audit when it is “part of the problem” and not of the solution.
“How can they audit their own failures? It would be a whitewash, pure and simple,” Co said in mixed Filipino and English.
The militant lawmakers said the COA may conduct a comprehensive audit of all flood control projects, “similar to their work on the pork barrel scam and VP Sara Duterte’s confidential funds.”
“COA has proven its independence and capability in exposing government anomalies,” they said. “COA has the technical expertise, independence, and constitutional mandate to conduct thorough audits. They exposed the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) scam, they questioned the confidential funds. They can certainly uncover the truth behind these flood control failures even by just basing from their previous audit reports.”
The Makabayan bloc cited COA’s annual audit report on the DPWH, which flagged the department’s failure to implement 3,047 locally funded projects with an aggregate cost of about P131.6 billion “due to inadequate planning, detailed engineering, supervision, and monitoring.”
Also among the COA’s findings were the DPWH’s failure to implement 17 foreign-assisted projects worth some P84 billion; increasing project costs and prolonged implementation periods; and delays in implementing the Metro Manila Bridges Project, “resulting in government commitment fees totaling P26,519,560.90 in 2022 and 2023; excluding the commitment fees, the delayed projects total approximately P215.98 billion.”
During the deliberations for the 2025 national budget, then-Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) grilled the DPWH on flood control issues, raising concerns about the effectiveness and transparency of their projects.
‘WHITEWASH’
Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said the government should form an independent audit and investigation body which will look into the alleged anomalous flood control projects.
In an interview with radio dzRH, Lacson said the president should not limit the audit and investigating team to government agencies since the Filipino people perceive that the DPWH and some lawmakers are involved in these alleged irregularities.
“The President could task government agencies to undertake the probe but there should also be civilians. It cannot be all-government because many perceive the DPWH is involved and that it may whitewash its findings and give the President a sanitized and untruthful report,” Lacson said in Filipino.
He said forming an independent auditing body and allowing civilians to participate will “most likely” gain volunteers to help out with the investigation.
“Many people are tired of corruption and are willing to help, especially civil society organizations and non-government organizations. They are willing to give information they got from the ground … This is a chance for the citizens to take up the challenge of the President, for all Filipinos to pitch in. We will also see how serious our government is,” he added.
Citing information shared to him by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Lacson said the cut of lawmakers in infrastructure projects may reach 35 percent, and up to 50 percent of the total project cost for flood control projects.
He recalled that in 2022, a lawmaker friend told him there were at least 67 House members who are contractors, and the number may have increased since.
“There are no minutes or records. The only sign would be the project in a district with signs showing who proposed it,” he said.
In an interview with NET 25 network, Lacson said he hopes that Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan would resist pressure from lawmakers to insert their projects and designate their choice district engineers in flood control projects. – With Raymond Africa
