ASEANEWS HEADLINE-GRAFT & CORRUPTION | MANILA: Marcos to contractor: Explain failed river project in Bulacan
Marcos to summon Discaya-owned firm over substandard flood control project in Bulacan | ANC
MANILA, Philippines — After receiving a handwritten complaint from a concerned citizen about a “poorly built” dike in Calumpit, Bulacan, President Marcos personally inspected the embankment yesterday and ordered its contractor and involved government officials to explain why the project failed to prevent flooding.Marcos talked to residents living near the dike before checking the structure.
In a media interview, the President demanded explanation from St. Timothy Construction Corp., the contractor for the rehabilitation of the river protection structure along Barangay Bulusan in Calumpit.
“St. Timothy was the contractor here. We’ll look into it. They need to answer why this happened. They better come here to see the hardship they brought to our countrymen,” the President said.
“Unbelievable, this has been going on for years,” he said.
Marcos was joined by local officials led by Gov. Daniel Fernando.
St. Timothy Construction Corp. is one of the 15 major contractors that Marcos identified as having cornered 20 percent or about P100 billion of the total P545 billion worth of flood control projects nationwide in the past three years.
Marcos said initial inspection showed the dike appeared to have not followed the right specification of materials, and there also appeared to be gaps in the dike that made it incomplete.
Scuba divers were dispatched to assess the flood control project. They reported that the concrete underwater was of varying thickness and was shoddily built. The divers also reported that steel reinforcements were not driven into the river so water still flowed underneath.
Marcos said he learned that dredging or desiltation has never been conducted as part of the flood control project, contrary to records. The area, he said, looked like a swamp even weeks after the heavy monsoon rains have stopped.
“What possible excuse do they have for not doing these? I can’t think of any,” Marcos said.
Based on the website sumbongsapangulo.ph, the project has a total cost of over P96.4 million and was completed on Feb. 12, 2023.
The website was launched by Marcos early this week to allow citizens to directly report to him any non-operational or anomalous flood control projects in their areas.
…
 |
.
The President also inspected the flood mitigation structure along Barangay Frances in Calumpit. He said the project, which was marked completed in 2023, also showed thin and porous cement.
Marcos said they also found that dredging and desiltation were not conducted, contrary to the project report submitted to the government.
“We’ll find out who’s responsible for this, from the government, from private. They should be accountable to these people,” he said.
Magalong pushes back
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong pushed back against Malacañang’s seeming antagonism on his anti-corruption exposé after the Palace declined his offer to help lead an impartial investigation.
“From tone, movement and look – I can see those things. I’m not looking for a fight; I’m looking for the truth” Magalong said, in response to the remarks from Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro challenging the mayor to present concrete evidence to support his claims linking the 2025 budget to election funding, stressing that serious allegations require proof.
“We are not the enemies here, but friendly forces, because we want the President to succeed,” Magalong said.
|
|
.
Magalong said his offer was made in good faith and urged officials not to treat him as an accused but as a resource person. He also expressed disappointment that, despite offering to cooperate in a fair investigation, the offer was not embraced by the Palace.
“I did not seek confrontation; I sought transparency. Yet the invitation for me to help investigate was met with silence, and now I find I am being perceived as suspect rather than truth-seeker,” he remarked.
‘Overpriced’ projects
In Baguio, the City Council summoned Department of Public Works and Highways-Cordillera and Baguio City District Engineering Office (CBDEO) officials to present detailed records on project costs, procurement and compliance with laws and engineering standards amid reports of alleged gross overpricing in DPWH projects in the city from July 2022 to July 2025.
Baguio City Councilor Jose Molintas, in a resolution, said officials of the DPWH-CBDEO should present data on the prices of highway “cat’s eyes,” yellow road barriers, rock netting and solar streetlights amid reports that they were allegedly several times higher than market rates.
The resolution also referred to alleged kickbacks in contracts.
Discrepancies reportedly ranged from thousands of pesos per piece for cat’s eyes to over a P100,000 per meter for barriers, Molintas added.
|
|
.
Molintas cited the Baguio City council’s oversight powers under Republic Act No. 7160 to compel the DPWH to submit data for independent verification.
Magalong has raised similar observations, citing reports handed to him. He has cited instances of inflated costs for the same infrastructure items, comparing contract prices with prevailing market rates where corruption of government budget occur.
Moral obligation
Meanwhile, Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano reminded fellow public officials of their moral obligation to divest business interests, exercise due diligence in vetting flood control projects and in accepting campaign donations from contractor donors.
“Divestment is the moral and legal action to take. It has long been required of public officials in Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. This law and other laws also prohibit conflict of interest of public officials and employees,” Valeriano said over “Arangkada Balita” on dzMM.
“But some find ways to avoid real divestment and cut loose from conflicts of interest. Those ways may be legal but not moral,” he added.
Valeriano said the rules on divestment and conflict of interest “must be made more stringent because those rules depend too much on sworn declarations of the public servants.”
|
|
.
For his part, House minority leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan urged President Marcos to convene a National Public-Private Flood Control Summit to bring together experts, resources and technologies. This, he said, could pave the way for a Presidential Task Force on Flood Control.
“The President still has three years left in his term – enough time to lay the groundwork for a program that could stand as one of his most lasting legacies. If the President acts decisively now, flood control can become a flagship initiative of his administration,” Libanan said yesterday.
He also welcomed the recent offer of San Miguel Corp. president and CEO Ramon Ang to help resolve Metro Manila’s flooding problem at no cost to the government or the public.
The lawmaker stressed, however, that while public-private partnerships will be crucial, the national government must take the lead.
He added Congress could grant the President special emergency powers to overcome bureaucratic delays and legal obstacles, enabling faster procurement, right-of-way acquisition and relocation of affected residents. — Ramon Efren Lazaro, Artemio Dumlao, Jose Rodel Clapano, Miriam
.
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
