Heads will roll in faulty flood control works, warns Marcos
There will be no allies or adversaries in the government’s crackdown on questionable flood control projects.
President Marcos made this assurance in the latest episode of “BBM Podcast” aired over GMA 7 on Monday night, as he hinted he was aware which officials benefited from these failed or nonexistent projects.
The President said he already had “some names” of the private contractors involved in these anomalous projects.
But he stopped short of naming them, even as he emphasized that “they know who they are.”
“They are very notorious. They have been doing this for a long time,” Mr. Marcos said. “I’m sorry but they will have to account for their actions and they will have to account for the expenditures that they have made that we did not see the results.”
“You cannot fix the problem without knowing who to blame. So, one thing follows another,” he said further.
“So, for us to fix the problem, we have to know what happened, where things went wrong, and who should be held accountable. Someone must be held accountable for the plight that our fellow citizens are going through. They deserve to know who is responsible, and someone must answer for their suffering,” the President said.
When asked if there were allies of his among these corrupt officials, Mr. Marcos said: “Then I am sorry, I’m no longer your ally if that’s what you’re doing. I don’t want to be your ally anymore.”
‘Blacklist’
In his fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28, the President spoke up on flood control projects which have failed to alleviate communities affected by floods in the series of typhoons late last month.
“Mahiya naman kayo (Have some shame),” Mr. Marcos said, addressing officials and contractors who conspired to make money on these projects.
Regarding those officials, he said: “First of all, we will put them on a blacklist. They cannot bag any more contracts from the government. We will ask them where the funds for these projects went.”
“If they cannot explain themselves well, we will have to take it to the next step: we will pursue cases against all of them,” Mr. Marcos said.
‘Job not being done’
The President also cited how funding for foreign-assisted projects was placed instead by lawmakers under unprogrammed appropriations.
“These are usually funded by loans. We are borrowing money just for these corrupt people to spend on,” Mr. Marcos said.
As part of his anticorruption campaign, the President visited different flood control projects last December.
More than half a year later, with the series of storms hitting the country, Mr. Marcos said he returned to inspect these projects—only to be told that these have not been started “or whatever, the usual excuses” officials have told him.
“I said this is nonsense. It’s clear that the job isn’t being done,” he said. “We shouldn’t be doing this to our fellow citizens. This is a sin [to the Filipinos].”
But in Bulacan, one of several provinces severely affected by the series of typhoons in June, staggered funding and not corruption has stalled flood control projects there, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The department is implementing P136 billion worth of projects across 10 flood-prone towns and cities in Bulacan.
According to Brice Ericson Hernandez, newly appointed head of the First District Engineering Office of DPWH Bulacan, 13 projects which began in 2023 are now 15-percent complete.
These are in Hagonoy, Guiguinto, Bocaue, Malolos, Plaridel, Pandi and Balagtas.
Initial funding of P36 billion was released in tranches: P8 billion in 2023, P14 billion in 2024, and another P14 billion this year.
The delay in project completion is largely due to the staggered release of funds, Hernandez told the Inquirer on Sunday.
He noted that if the remaining P100 billion in funding were released at once, all 13 projects could be completed within two to three years.
For the 2025 allocation, over P1.6 billion was earmarked for Malolos, P695 million for Bocaue, nearly P1.2 billion for Balagtas, almost P1.4 billion each for Pandi and Guiguinto, over P1.2 billion for both Calumpit and Hagonoy, P360 million for Bulakan, and P40 million for Paombong.
According to Hernandez, the cost of each project varies depending on the town and the extent of work required.
Edgardo Pingol, the Bulacan third district engineer, also denied allegations of ghost projects or anomalies.
“We don’t have ghost projects here. We will submit the list in compliance with the President’s directive,” Pingol said.
