Suspended inquiry whetting public’s appetite

The abrupt suspension of the Senate investigation into the substandard and ghost flood control projects has left everyone in suspense, whetting the public’s appetite for more revelations about this systemic corruption that has plagued the body politic for so long.

The vacuum left by Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s sudden decision more than three weeks ago to quit as chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee (BRC) is so immense that not one of his gallant colleagues in the majority is willing to take his place—proof that he was doing a good job despite the brickbats thrown his way throughout the inquiry.

He may, however, return as BRC chair once the Senate resumes session on Nov. 10.

But the agonizing wait for the resumption of the investigation does not sit well with a suspicious public wary of behind-the-scenes machinations by those implicated in flood control anomalies. For as long as these lawmakers and contractors are scot-free, justice is kept at bay.

Our Judiciary has a spotty record when it comes to holding the powerful accountable.

Exhibit A is the P10-billion scam involving lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund, which our then enterprising Inquirer reporter, Nancy Carvajal, exposed in 2013. None of the three accused senators has been convicted of plunder, and most of the indicted House members have been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan. The latest verdict (see “Enrile, Reyes, Napoles cleared in ‘pork’ case,” 10/25/25) speaks for itself.

Suspended animation. Many questions remain unanswered since the last public hearing conducted by the BRC on Sept. 25, the day when former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo dropped a bombshell by finally admitting to wrongdoing in the flood control mess. He and former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara are key figures in the flood control mess.

Bernardo acted as the conduit between Alcantara (and his cabal of three conniving thieves at the Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office or DEO) and the “project proponents,” the code for lawmakers who received millions of kickbacks (up to 25 percent of the total project cost) in exchange for downloading flood control funds to Bulacan and elsewhere.

Bernardo’s tell-all has riveted an otherwise skeptical public. He mentioned big names—one current and two former senators, a lawmaker who has since resigned, an education undersecretary of a former senator, and a Commission on Audit commissioner whose spouse owns a construction firm that bagged nearly P2.3 billion in public works contracts since 2022.

Bernardo completed the cast of characters that ran this once-secretive enterprise. However, he maintained that he had neither “personal knowledge on the exact actions they took [to] accomplish this scheme” nor participation in ghost projects. He then implicated resigned Ako Bicol party list Rep. Zaldy Co, the once-powerful chair of the House appropriations committee, who has since fled the country, for receiving a 25 percent “commission” from flood control projects.

However, it was former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez who earlier provided more substance to Co’s alleged role in this sordid affair. At one point, Co, through his staff “Paul,” allegedly received at least P1 billion in cash as kickbacks stuffed in more than 20 suitcases that were transported using six or seven vans, Hernandez and his colleague, engineer Jaypee Mendoza, testified at the BRC hearing on Sept. 23. Moreover, Hernandez claimed to have personally met Co during the latter’s meeting with Alcantara.

Differing figures. Co and lawmakers implicated in this corrupt scheme have claimed innocence, but serious questions persist in some of the details provided by the witnesses.

Bernardo claimed to have given lawmakers “commissions” ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent, but why did Alcantara maintain that the kickback was always pegged at 25 percent? Sen. Erwin Tulfo was correct in inquiring about the fate of the 10 percent (in at least two flood control cases).

Quoting resigned DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan and Hernandez, Bernardo also mentioned a “20-20-20-40 scheme” for “apportioning the profits amongst themselves,” referring to the four Bulacan first DEO engineers. However, Bernardo also insisted that he and Alcantara only retained a measly 2 percent of the total cost of projects identified by Co.

As some quarters attempt to mar the investigation by obfuscating the truth, let us not forget that it was President Marcos who first exposed this rampant pillage of national coffers when he disclosed on Aug. 11 that 15 contractors had secured P100 billion of the P545 billion allocated for flood control projects since 2022.

Moving the needle, the President himself made public the list of all flood control projects undertaken by DPWH nationwide since 2022 by launching the sumbongsapangulo.ph website. That unprecedented move was a game changer, elevating accountability to new heights.

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lim.mike04@gmail.com