Exec confirms Pulong district’s P51-B infra funds in last half of pa’s term
A ranking official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has confirmed that Davao City’s first congressional district, which is represented by Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, received P51 billion in infrastructure funds in the last three years of the administration of his father, then President Rodrigo Duterte.
Responding to a question by Manila Rep. Joel Chua during Tuesday’s hearing of the House infrastructure committee, Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral said the funds were reflected in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The hearing seeks to unearth the truth about the flood control projects in the country amid revelations many of these were either substandard or nonexistent but were paid by the national government, nonetheless. The “infracomm” investigation has been convened by the committees of public accounts, public works and highways, and good government and public accountability.
So far, the hearings in both the House and the Senate have elicited disclosures by contractors that they paid kickbacks allegedly to DPWH officials and members of Congress.
Chua’s interpellation of Cabral was premised on a 2024 report of the news site “Politiko” that cited her as mentioning the P51-billion budget to bankroll infrastructure projects in Representative Duterte’s district.
“Again, I have to check, Your Honor, because I am not certain of the number in the published news of Politiko,” Cabral initially answered.
But Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, the infracomm cochair, pressed Cabral, citing her direct quote in the 2024 report.
“I will remind you [on this]: ‘Based on the report of our Programming Division, we confirm that the amounts that you mentioned in 2020, 2021, 2022, based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) of the DPWH and the General Appropriations Act (GAA) in this district, are correct, and we confirm those budgets.’ Do you remember that?” Ridon emphasized.
“I guess I already remember, Your Honor. I think there is an interview at that time,” Cabral affirmed.
“Yes, you remember, or yes, you don’t remember? … I am confronting you with that quote,” Ridon told Cabral.
She replied: “I remember, Your Honor.”
When further asked if she was finally confirming the amount supposedly given to the district of Duterte in the specified years, Cabral answered: “Yes, Your Honor.”
Diversion
In Davao City, Duterte said lawmakers were diverting the issue when they raised the P51-billion budget for infrastructure allocated for his district.
“Duterte kayo nang Duterte (You’re always blaming the Dutertes),” he said.
“It was very clear that DPWH officials and resource persons already admitted that they’re giving payola to certain officials of the government, but what happened? They’re diverting the issue. Instead of going after accountability, some congressmen, like Representative Chua, even brought up the P51-billion budget for Davao City during my father’s presidency,” said Duterte in a statement released to Davao-based reporters on Tuesday.
He said his family had been blamed for issues of corruption, lashing out at his critics for focusing on the Dutertes.
“I challenge the Filipino people [to] do a background check on all Makabayan bloc congressmen and you, people of Luzon, check your congressmen first, don’t keep on watching Davao—because the floods and the garbage are in your backyard. Scrutinize the IRA (internal revenue allotment) of your local governments. You’re facing corruption right under your noses but you keep harping on the Dutertes,” said the Davao lawmaker.
Early last year, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV first called public attention to the huge allocations for Duterte’s district by asking the Commission on Audit to do a special audit on the infrastructure projects.
Trillanes also urged the DPWH then to conduct an actual physical inspection to ascertain they were not “ghost projects,” especially those on flood control and mitigation structures.
Funding
Last year, the Inquirer obtained documents of the allocations for Duterte’s district in Davao, and the accuracy of these were confirmed by Cabral back then.
The 2020 NEP recommended P4.67 billion for Duterte’s district but this increased to P13.745 billion in the GAA for that year.
In 2021, the NEP pegged it at P9.67 billion which grew to over P25 billion when the GAA came out. In 2022, the P10 billion stipulated in the NEP increased to P13 billion in the GAA.
In the documents obtained by the Inquirer, only a fraction of the GAA amounts were detailed as to be undertaken by the DPWH Davao City District Engineering Office, which means the larger chunks of the budget were “centrally managed” or overseen by the central office.
In the 2020 GAA list of the district engineering office are P3.3 billion worth of infrastructure projects, of which P1.4 billion were for flood control. In 2021, P1.192 billion of P4.1 billion were for flood control, and P722.5 million of P4 billion in 2022. —WITH REPORTS FROM RYAN ROSAURO AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
