‘What Sen. Alan’s staff should have done was check it out, and if they found something, then immediately call his attention to what they found…’
NO, this is not the title of a movie in the making.
The other day, Senate minority leader Alan Cayetano took to the floor to issue a statement. In part, he said, “Ganun din and hamon ko sa DPWH, para ko nang kapatid ‘yung bagong secretary, hinahamon ko siya: nasaan na and listahan ng lahat ng projects ng lahat ng labing-lima, para isang posting na lang tayo. Hindi ‘yung na-chismis ka na magiging Senate president ka, biglang may lalabas na listahan (I make the same call to the DPWH, though the new secretary is like a brother to me, I am daring him: where is the list of all the projects of the fifteen, so that we have one post. Not just because there are rumors someone will be the next Senate president and all of a sudden a list comes out.)”
Hearing Sen. Alan utter these words made me cringe. And want to fire people, particularly his staff. Did anyone ever tell him about the “Sumbong mo sa Pangulo” website, which has all the floodwater projects listed by district and contractor? I guess not. Because when he sounds like there is no list except one that is released when convenient – when an aspirant for Senate president, for example, raises his head and must be put in his proper place – then it means his people did not do their job: 1) listen to the President; 2) check the website; and 3) call attention to any red flags that could be used against their boss.
I was expecting a far better bunch of people working for someone who was once the DFA secretary and Speaker of the House. This seems to me like amateur hour. And they’re not doing their principal any good.
A few days ago, I actually checked the website myself to see what, if any, the floodwater control projects in my hometown of Alaminos, Laguna, where I am a registered voter. My initial reading of the list of projects in the province of Laguna did not show any from Alaminos; a day later, I asked a colleague in the office – much younger and with better eyesight – to check Alaminos for me. He came back with the same answer: Nada.
Then I asked him to do the same for Taguig and Pateros, because I had also checked but was bothered by what I initially saw. Being the senior citizen that I am, I wanted a hard copy, so I asked him to print one for me, and he did. He came back with two files, one a 2-pager on A4 paper listing flood control projects in Pateros from 2022 to 2025, and another, on 5 pages of A4 paper identifying floodwater control projects for Taguig also covering the period 2022-2025.
The point is “the list” that Sen Alan was asking about actually exists. It’s on the President’s website. It is a list of all floodwater projects in all districts throughout the Philippines from 2022 to 2025. What Sen. Alan’s staff should have done was check it out, and if they found something, then immediately call his attention to what they found on “the list.” But because they didn’t do this job, the Senator ended up daring his good friend DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to produce the list as if “the list” was a mysterious thing kept from the public until and unless it is convenient to disclose it.
We have just been too consumed and fascinated by the revelations about Bulacan’s First District, as I posted on Facebook, that we are forgetting the Philippines has over 250 districts, of which 33 are in Metro Manila. And of these 33, Taguig-Pateros has two.
The bad news is this: among the names of contractors for the floodwater projects are some of the now-notorious contractors, including the Discayas, who told congressional committees, under oath, that they were giving DPWH officials a percentage of the project costs and that they understood that even politicians took a percentage of the percentage. In this highly-charged atmosphere and elevated anger among the people, this has created a perception of corruption whenever the Discaya name is linked to a flood control project, and again, as I pointed out in a Facebook post, it is a perception that trumps the presumption of innocence that everyone is entitled to.
But this is the good news: the staff of Sen. Alan should only have to document each and every one of the projects so identified to demonstrate that 1) the projects are real and not ghosts, and that 2) they have been completed on time or are in their final stages of completion, and a major issue about ghost projects is put to rest.
They should lose no time doing this.
Again, I repeat my call to the Senate minority leader: surround yourself with friends and advisers who will tell you what you may not wish to hear but have to hear. No leader is served by having only yes-men and boot-lickers around him. And as this situation shows, have a much better crisis team studying any and every potential issue that can derail your work, one that lays out for you the best and the worst scenarios and a realistic plan to help you survive the latter.
You see, if only they were doing their jobs, they could have told you that “the list” exists, it is on the website “Sumbong mo sa Pangulo,” and all one has to do is type the name of one’s LGU in the search bar and, voila!
Either the search comes up empty – as in the case of Alaminos, Laguna — or it comes up positive, as in the case of Taguig and Pateros.
Sen Alan: get your team working to document each of the 60+ projects on the list — especially the 15 listed as awarded to companies owned by the Discayas — and make sure they do a thorough job.
This is no time for amateurs. The people are really angry.
