Admin allies should not be spared, says party-list solon
A LAWMAKER belonging to party-list group yesterday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to name politicians, including his allies in Congress, who are involved in anomalous flood control projects being funded under the annual national budget.
Rep. Elijah San Fernando (PL, Kamanggagawa) told the Chief Executive that if he will not identify those who are involved in the anomaly, “accountability will remain an empty slogan.”
“Now we want him to name names. It’s difficult if they say some are involved in anomalies but would not name names. How can there be an investigation and later, accountability, if we don’t know who’ they are referring to,” he said in a statement in mixed English and Filipino.
The President has identified 15 contractors which secured nearly 20 percent of the P545.64-billion allocated for flood control from July 2022 to May 2025. About 20 percent of all projects, valued at roughly P100 billion, went to these contractors — five of which had projects in nearly all regions.
These are Legacy Construction Corp., Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp., St. Timothy Construction Corp., EGB Construction Corp., and Road Edge Trading & Development Services, QM Builders, Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc., Centerways Construction and Development Inc., Sunwest Inc., Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp., Triple 8 Construction & Supply Inc., Royal Crown Monarch Construction, Waowao Builders, MG Samidan Construction, and LR Tiqui Builders Inc.
Rep. Elizalde Co (PL, Ako Bicol), who chaired the committee on appropriations in the past 19th Congress, said in 2022 that he divested all his interests in Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation in 2019.
Sunwest reportedly cornered contracts in the Bicol Region, including a flood control project in Catanduanes worth more than P192 million, which is on top of more expensive contracts in other areas like Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro.
Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco earlier said the President was obviously alluding to lawmakers when he said that those who are profiting from public works projects in the annual national budget should be ashamed of themselves because of the recent massive floodings, especially in Metro Manila.
CONCRETE ACTION
San Fernando said the President’s own admission that there were lapses in the program “should be followed by concrete action, even if it means implicating political allies.”
“Sabi nga ni PBBM, siya na mismo ang nakakita na palpak (PBBM has said that he, himself, has seen the fiasco). It’s a good admission. The first step in resolving a problem is admitting that there is a problem. Now, pangalanan mismo ni PBBM yan kung sino yang mga ‘yan, kahit pa kakampi o kaalyado niya. (Now, PBBM should name these people, even if they are allies). Otherwise it will just be another press release,” he said.
House majority leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos on Wednesday said the House of Representatives has no business investigating the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) failed flood control programs because the issue involves lawmakers and their contractors.
The presidential son, who made the comment as the House committee on public accounts resumed its hearing into the failed flood control projects, said lawmakers should just wait for results of an investigation that the President ordered the DPWH to conduct.
HOUSE PROBE ON
Rep. Terry Ridon (PL, Bicol Saro), chairman of the public accounts panel, has no plan to stop the investigation, saying the panel will even invite fellow lawmakers, construction companies, and government officials if they are named in anomalous flood control or public works projects.
Ridon, a lawyer and former representative of the militant Kabataan party-list group, said he is even prepared to invite Co to the hearing even if Rep. Marcos has said the House has no credibility to investigate its own members.
“Yes (we’ll invite everyone), if they are named as part of anomalous transactions relating to infrastructure and flood control projects, then they will be asked to sit before the tri-committee and explain themselves,” he told ANC.
The House committee on public works and on good government and public accountability will join Ridon’s panel to form a tri-committee that will jointly investigate the President’s revelations. Ridon assured resource persons the investigation will not be a “witch hunt.”
“I think we have to be able to explain to the people how the process actually works for us to be able to see where the policy gaps are, and to make sure that gaps are actually plugged,” he said.
Ridon said the House tri-committee “can recuse itself from investigating specific anomalous projects in the event of a showing that legislators may be involved in order to avoid accusations of conflict of interest.”
“While legislators will nonetheless be allowed to defend themselves before the tri-committee upon being named as part of an anomalous project, the inquiry may subsequently be endorsed to a third-party probe or the executive-led probe for further disposition,” he said.
“This should not affect the resolve of the tri-committee to look into anomalous contracts which do not involve legislators.”
Rep. Antonio (PL, ACT), a member of the militant Makabayan bloc, agreed with Ridon that the House should continue its probe into the flood control fiasco, saying it will be a challenge for the House leadership if sitting or former members of the House are implicated in the anomaly.
“It should continue. The investigation is not mutually exclusive, it can be done and Congress should be maximized as a venue to look into it,” he said in mixed Filipino and English during a press conference. “If former House members are implicated, you know, that’s a challenge for the House as to how it will face it.”
‘ONE-STRIKE POLICY’
Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos asked the DPWH to immediately implement a one-strike policy against personnel, particularly district engineers, who will be found involved in irregularities.
Santos said there is a need for a “decisive and swift action to restore public trust and ensure that infrastructure funds are spent properly and transparently for the benefit of communities.”
“DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan must adopt a zero-tolerance approach, and that starts with immediately removing officials involved in anomalies,” said Santos who earlier urged the DPWH to replace Las Piñas-Muntinlupa district engineer Isabelo Baleros over alleged questionable transactions, including unauthorized transfer of funds for flood control projects.
Santos has accused Baleros of involvement in “anomalous transactions involving irregular fund transfers, questionable project prioritization, and a blatant disregard for coordination with local government officials.”
He said Baleros reportedly requested that project funds intended for Las Piñas “be moved from his district office to the DPWH National Capital Region office, without prior consultation with local officials.”
