A former Cabinet member who will seek an elective post in the midterm elections next year “parked” at least P300 million worth of infrastructure projects in the proposed national budget for 2019, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. claimed on Sunday.

Andaya said a mayor informed him that the former Cabinet member parked the allocation for flood-mitigation projects for Region 5, with the funds “to be released anytime soon.”

Region 5 or the Bicol Region is composed of the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate.

“A mayor from Region 5 approached me over the weekend and intimated that a former Cabinet official now seeking an elective seat was responsible for ‘parking’ at least P300 million in infrastructure projects in the proposed 2019 national budget,” Andaya said in a text message to reporters.

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“The mayor approached me because he said that he only understood what has been happening now. They agreed to the parking scheme because they believe that it will benefit their constituents. He also clarified that he did not earn anything from the project,” the Majority Leader said.

Five Cabinet members resigned to seek elective posts next year — former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, former presidential adviser on political affairs Francis Tolentino, former presidential spokesman Harry Roque, former Foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, and former cabinet secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr.

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Go, Tolentino, and Roque are running for senator. Evasco will run for Bohol governor, while Cayetano seeks to represent the 1st district of Taguig City-Pateros.

Andaya said the involvement of the unnamed Cabinet official and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in the parking scheme may explain the huge spike in budget for flood mitigation projects — from P79 billion in 2017 to P133 billion this year.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is being linked because since his in-laws, Mayor Edwin Hamor of Casiguran, Sorsogon and Sorsogon Vice Governor Ester Hamor, are said to be the “end beneficiaries” of the multi-billion infrastructure projects connected to C.T. Leoncio Construction and Trading which is allegedly tied to the unidentified former Cabinet official.

A daughter of the Hamors, Maria Minez Hamor, owns Aremar Construction Corp., which got P550 million after conducting at least four joint ventures with C.T. Leoncio. The latter had bagged government contracts worth billions.

“In Region 5 alone, P2.2 billion was added to national flood-related projects from 2017 to 2018. We will find out based on the investigation of the House rules committee how much goes to C.T. Leoncio and the Aremar Construction. It looks like these are the favored contractors of the DBM,” Andaya said.

In the proposed 2019 budget, P114.4 billion was allotted for flood control projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar had claimed that he was not aware of the additional budget given to his department.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a resolution urging President Rodrigo Duterte to sack Diokno.

Diokno admitted that the P51.7 billion initially allocated for DPWH projects actually amounted to P75 billion, and is part of the “President’s budget.”

“We want an infrastructure budget [that is higher] and we have fiscal space, so we decided to augment or add to the P480 billion another P75 billion, not P51 billion,” Diokno said.

He maintained that the additional amount is not an insertion as it was part of the President’s budget. However, Andaya said Duterte did not have an idea where the amount came from.

Andaya’s revelation comes a few days after he announced that the House Committee on Rules would conduct an investigation on the issue on January 3. They also intend to summon Diokno regarding the questionable budget allocations on infrastructure projects by the DBM.

BY GLEE JALEA

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