Mayors’ group wants politicians, contractors named
A group of mayors has called on national government agencies, particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), to identify politicians and contractors behind defective and substandard flood control and other infrastructure projects.
In a statement on Saturday evening, the Mayors for Good Governance said it stands firmly with the Filipino people in demanding truth, accountability and justice regarding the “massive corruption allegations,” especially the reported collusion between government officials and favored contractors.
The statement was signed by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who was among the first to expose the involvement of some House lawmakers in bungled infrastructure and flood control projects.
Other signatories were Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Isabela City Mayor Sitti Hataman.
More mayors are expected to sign the statement, as the group launched in 2023 has the support of more than 100 local chief executives.
‘Project details’
“Flood control projects have existed for decades, but over the past years, corruption in these projects has become more alarming, pervasive, and systematic,” the group said.
“Those who have stolen public funds must face the full force of the law. Once proven guilty, politicians and bureaucrats must not only be removed from office, but also prosecuted and jailed,” it added.
The mayors demanded that the DPWH and other agencies concerned make an “immediate and full disclosure of all project details: the programs of work, detailed unit price analyses, bill of quantities, and feasibility studies, and most urgently—the names of contractors and politicians responsible for these multi-billion peso projects funded by our taxpayers.”
Local execs left out
“Transparency is no longer optional, but a duty we owe to every Filipino,” they said. “Corruption must end now. The Filipino people deserve a government that protects and serves them, not one that endangers their lives and robs them of their future.”
Some local executives in the past week complained that many flood control projects in their areas were not coordinated with them. Neither were there consultations with experts before construction began.
Some projects were also implemented without the approval of local government units, making these incompatible with local development plans.
Magalong said on Friday he would comply with Malacañang’s suggestion to submit to President Marcos the document in his possession detailing the connivance between lawmakers and contractors.
Earlier, he and Sen. Panfilo Lacson claimed that 67 members of the House of Representatives were moonlighting as contractors and may have been involved in substandard or defective infrastructure projects.
‘Notorious’
In his July 28 State of the Nation Address (Sona), the President ordered the investigation of all flood control projects undertaken under his administration, admitting that many of these failed to protect Filipinos from floods that submerged their communities for days.
During a post-Sona podcast on Aug. 4, he said he already had a list of names of those behind the botched projects. But he did not identify them, saying only “they know who they are.”
“They are very notorious. They have been doing this for a long time,” Mr. Marcos added.
A week later, he showed a list of all 9,855 flood-control projects implemented by the DPWH from July 2022 to May 2025.
The President said he found it “disturbing” that P100 billion or 20 percent of the entire P545-billion budget for those projects were awarded to only 15 out of 2,409 accredited contractors.
Mr. Marcos said the ongoing investigation would spare no one.
“This might be a little painful. Some people close to us might be involved in these anomalies. But even if they are close to us, the public is surely much closer to our hearts, so we will put them first,” he said.
Inspection
On Aug. 15, while inspecting the recently rehabilitated dike in the perennially flooded town of Calumpit, Bulacan, Mr. Marcos was visibly irritated by the crumbling concrete embankment on a portion of the Pampanga River, calling the workmanship “irregular and sloppy.”
He demanded answers from project contractor St. Timothy Construction Corp., one of the 15 contractors on his list.
Based on data, the P96.4-million project was completed only in February 2023.
“St. Timothy is the contractor here, so we’ll look into this. We need to hold them accountable and ask why they did it this way,” Mr. Marcos said.
