Lawmaker vs lawmaker in latest flood control controversy
It appears that discussions on flood control projects have now reached the point where members of the House of Representatives are calling out each other, as Ako Bicol party list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. told Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco to mind his own turf first before poking into the affairs of other districts.
Garbin on Friday said that Tiangco—who has been critical of his fellow Ako Bicol representative, former committee on appropriations chair Elizaldy Co—should first explain why majority of the P529-million budget inserted into the 2025 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) went to flood control in Navotas.
Garbin said in an interview that the contract for some of the projects were bagged by controversial companies like St. Timothy Construction Corp. which is owned by the contractor-couple Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya.
Responding to Garbin, Tiangco said that it should be common sense that flood control projects are a major fixture in Navotas, as it is “below sea level during high tide and lies downstream of the Tullahan River.”
“This means, water during the high tide coming from the sea and the river is higher than the land of Navotas. Therefore, flooding is really the number one issue that needs to be addressed,” he said.
“That’s why flood control projects are so important because flooding affects many aspects of life—safety, health, livelihood, education, and businesses of each Navoteño,” he added. “We have openly told our fellow Navotas residents that we have asked the National Government for funds for flood control projects. This is not a secret.”
Calls for Co’s attendance
Tiangco was one of the lawmakers who asked last Tuesday that Co, as head of the House appropriations committee in the 19th Congress, be invited by the infrastructure committee, which opened an inquiry into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
After the infra-committee hearing, the lawmaker said that party lists affiliated with Co received more than P4 billion worth of allocations from the DPWH.
These include P2.23 billion for Ako Bicol and P2.06 billion for Barangay Health Workers represented by Co’s niece, former Rep. Natasha Co. Another P13 billion went to Co himself, Tiangco said.
But Garbin said that the funds Tiangco had mentioned were not released, a matter that the Navotas congressman himself confirmed in an interview with dzBB radio.
On the contrary, Garbin said that the P529 million worth of alleged insertions for DPWH projects in Navotas had already been downloaded.
“The items in the budget which were included in the General Appropriation Act, we already confirmed that these were not released—meaning not part of any anomalous DPWH projects or not subject of the investigation right now. So that’s why he (Co) was ruled out by the committee, that they cannot talk about it because that was not subject of the controversy,” Garbin said.
But out of the P529 million insertion that Tiangco had for 2025, 65 to 70 percent was for flood control in Navotas, he said.
“And I am amazed that the two contractors who were awarded contracts in his districts were the subject of the tricommittee probe, and these two contractors were being investigated right now because of ghost projects,” he added.
Mind ‘own backyard’
Garbin said the other company was SYMS Construction Trading, which was banned by newly appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon for its “ghost” flood control projects.
The Ako Bicol lawmaker said that the DPWH had written Tiangco requesting for assistance to St. Timothy and SYMS in implementing their projects.
“So I think, when you speak of transparency and accountability, including the insertions of 2025, he should investigate his own first, his own backyard, before shifting to other, issues especially if it (the money) was not released. But this one was all downloaded to his district and released and now it involves two contractors implementing in his congressional district and involved in the ghost project investigation,” Garbin added.
Documents show that the Navotas flood control projects included the rehabilitation of a pumping station by St. Timothy and a P3.346-million flood mitigation structure along Marala River.
