Lacson: Punish Contractors, Accomplices Involved In Failed Or Ghost Flood Control Projects

After the auditing of flood control programs to see which of them are failed or ghost projects, there must be the certainty of punishment on the erring contractors involved, as well as their accomplices in government.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson stressed this on Wednesday, July 30, noting the culprits will likely lie low for now – and go back to business if no one is actually punished.

“The most effective mechanism is the certainty of punishment. Someone must be held accountable. Because if not, the flood control mess will continue,” he said in Filipino in an interview over Bombo Radyo Philippines.

Lacson bared last week that almost P2 trillion had been allocated for flood control projects since 2011, but this failed to stop floods from affecting Filipinos.

He also cited figures showing that up to half of the P2 trillion may have ended up in some people’s pockets.

President Marcos, in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, July 28, ordered an audit of flood control programs and to make public the list of failed and ghost projects – and to charge those responsible.

“So what is needed now is to convert the President’s order into concrete action, to hold accountable not just the contractors but also their accomplices in the government,” Lacson said.

Erring private contractors and their accomplices in the government should face the certainty of punishment once failed or ghost flood control projects are identified, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said day.

Kickbacks

Lawmakers are receiving 35 to 40-percent kickbacks from infrastructure projects, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong claimed on Tuesday, July 29.

Corruption starts when lawmakers select the district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), he told “Storycon” on One News.

“Lawmakers are selecting them, not the public works secretary,” Magalong said. “From the very start, there’s already a conspiracy.”

Corrupt lawmakers favor flood control and road projects since they can manipulate the cost and volume of materials, he noted.

“Same thing with cat’s eye, solar lights… their favorite,” he added, referring to safety devices installed on roads.

Only 35 percent of the contract value for infrastructure projects would remain for project implementation, Magalong said.

“At an average of 30 percent (in kickbacks), minus the seven percent value-added tax, one-percent insurance bond, plus the implementing agency gets around 12 percent, then three-percent contingency fund, plus another two percent, hence, around 55 percent (of the budget) gets removed,” he explained.

If contractors get 10 percent of the budget, only 35 percent remains for project implementation, he added.

Magalong described the current system on government infrastructure projects a “highly organized” crime involving collusion between contractors and bidding agencies.

The mayor welcomed Senate President Francis Escudero’s proposed law prohibiting relatives of public officials, up to the fourth degree of consanguinity, from becoming contractors or suppliers of the government.

Meanwhile, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon has challenged Magalong to show evidence to support his claim “because it is hard to make a generalization that all lawmakers are doing the same thing.”

Meanwhile, the DPWH wants P5 billion to dredge the country’s rivers and waterways to solve flooding.

Purchasing new heavy equipment is needed for the initiative, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said.

No funds have been allocated for massive dredging or desilting activities, he noted.

Procurement of dredging equipment will be included in the agency’s 2026 budget proposal, he said.

Local government units should take charge of managing flood control projects, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said.

Moreno lamented the continued dysfunction of flood control systems under the DPWH, particularly the Sunog Apog pumping station in Tondo, which he called “brand new, but ineffective and not functioning.”

The DPWH, he said, has yet to finish constructing the Estero de Abad, Remedios and Padre Faura pumping stations near Manila Bay due to “ongoing problems.” – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Ghio Ong