No Anomalies In P51 Billion Flood Control Projects – Paolo Duterte

The lawmaker-son of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte confirmed on Tuesday, Sept. 9, that his district in Davao City received a total of P51 billion in flood control funds at the height of the pandemic, as he challenged authorities to inspect the projects, saying “Davao has nothing to hide.”

“If you really want to find ghost projects under that P51 billion – go ahead, investigate it. Just please show all the records, and check on the ground,” Rep. Paolo Duterte of Davao City’s first district said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The truth is there – projects that can be seen, are tangible and can be utilized by Davao City constituents. Davao’s projects are built on solid ground,” the elder brother of Vice President Sara Duterte declared. He is on his third and last term as congressman.

The opposition legislator accused the Marcos administration and his allies in the House of Representatives of singling out his family and Davao City.

“Stop dragging the Dutertes to cover up your mess. Focus on the real issues – flood control anomalies,” he said. “Duterte kayo nang Duterte! I challenge the Filipino people – do a background check on all Makabayan bloc congressmen.”

“Don’t use Davao and our family to divert the issue away from the real issue of corruption,” he added. “The issue of corruption is right under your very noses, and yet you have been vilifying my father. Why the sudden shift of questioning on anomalous flood control projects?”

Public Works Undersecretary for planning Maria Catalina Cabral confirmed Tuesday before the infrastructure committee of the House – upon questioning by Manila Rep. Joel Chua – that Duterte’s district had been allotted a total of P51 billion during the pandemic lockdown.

Cabral confirmed the amount in the annual National Expenditure Program for Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2020, 2021 and 2022 for Davao City’s first district.

In January 2024, Rep. Zaldy Co, former chairman of the House appropriations committee, disclosed that the district of Duterte received P51 billion in unprogrammed funds.

“That is so much, P51 billion. In the 18th Congress, Davao has been dubbed as the Holy Land,” Co said.

Budget records show that for 2020, the Duterte administration proposed P4.6 billion for flood control projects, but the final General Appropriations Act (GAA) showed a much larger amount of P13.745 billion.

In 2021, the Duterte administration proposed P9.67 billion, which ballooned to P25 billion in the enacted budget.

‘Hiram lisensya’

At the House of Representatives, Act Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said the “hiram lisensya” scheme was also to blame for substandard infrastructure projects of the DPWH.

Tinio said the license lending scheme allowed contractors to routinely use borrowed licenses to win government bids, circumventing qualification requirements and enabled unqualified parties to execute critical infrastructure projects.

During questioning at the infrastructure committee hearing on Tuesday, former DPWH-Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara confirmed the existence of license lending. He initially claimed ignorance of its legal implications, but later admitted that he knew it is illegal.

“It is clear, coming from the mouth of district engineer Alcantara, that it is happening, that licenses are being borrowed. So, the projects are being awarded to licensed and qualified contractors, but the district engineer also knew that it is being made for hire, farm-out, subcontracted to contractors who are, maybe, not qualified,” Tinio said in a statement.

“This stunning admission reveals that DPWH officials have been turning a blind eye to this illegal practice for years, precisely because they claimed not to know it was against the law. This willful ignorance has enabled a culture of corruption that has cost taxpayers billions in substandard and ghost projects,” he added.

“We cannot allow DPWH officials to hide behind claims of ignorance while billions in public funds are wasted on substandard infrastructure. The Filipino people deserve quality projects implemented by qualified contractors, not this elaborate scheme of deception that has plagued our public works system for decades,” Tinio said.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it is ready to offer its services in the probe on anomalous flood control projects.

“We are prepared,” NBI director Jaime Santiago said on Tuesday. “Whatever assistance we can provide to the contractors and congressmen, we will give it.”

Santiago said he was invited to Monday’s third hearing by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, but was unable to speak.

“We were there from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. I thought I would be asked about the investigation, but we weren’t able to speak because of the revelations from the Discayas,” the NBI chief said, referring to controversial contractors Sarah and Curlee, who accused several lawmakers of receiving kickbacks from such projects.

Based on what Santiago and his fellow NBI officials had observed, “the declarations, admissions and denials are not connecting.” – With Jose Rodel Clapano, EJ Macababbad