“GHOST projects” – funded and reported completed but discovered fragmentary or not even begun – have awakened this nation not in fright but in anger.
The “ghosts” mercilessly haunt the different rooms of government agencies, initially the Dept. of Public Works and Highways, with the now uneasy shadows of private individuals and government officials who, prior to their discovery under the microscope’s ocular lens, had their festive days.
The deadly floodwaters last month, spawned by successive severe weather disturbances in this typhoon-prone country of 117 million, in a sense were a blessing, if shock bombshell, which stirred the minds of government leaders and the people.
In Bulacan, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was visibly annoyed during an inspection tour when he uncovered the existence of “ghost flood control projects” which failed to check the rampaging floodwaters in populated areas.
An infuriated President discovered, pretty much late, during his tour one case which mirrored other similar “ghost projects” and went back to Malacanang fuming and thinking of filing economic sabotage charges against those involved.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address last July, the President warned legislators against insertions in next year’s budget, saying he would not sign a fresh spending bill if it were not aligned with the National Expenditure Program.
An upshot of all this is the Senate has started the inquiry wheels rolling with of public hearings where private contractors, who had contracts with the DPWH, were invited to shed light.
DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who resigned effective Sept. 1 and expressed support for the President’s call for accountability, transparency and reform within the agency, was immediately replaced by Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon.
Dizon, at 51 the youngest member in the Marcos Cabinet, has dismissed suspended Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara from the department and also ordered the lifetime blacklisting of contractors Wawao Builders and Syms Construction Trading over “ghost” flood control projects.
He added suspended Assistant District Engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez and Engineer Jaypee Mendoza, former head of the Construction Section of the DPWH Bulacan 1st DEO, would also be dismissed.
This is just the beginning, Dizon said, of a massive cleanup of the agency and the perpetual disqualification of contractors involved in anomalies.
“The President has repeatedly said — and this was his clear marching orders to me — that we must not allow this to happen anymore, and to hold people who have done this to account,” he said.
We take great humor the Department of Justice this week issued an immigration lookout bulletin order against 43 individuals implicated in questionable flood control projects, which instructs immigration officers to closely monitor the travel of subject individuals.
The list included public works officials and owners of contractor firms dealing with the DPWH.
We believe Dizon that this is just the beginning, while the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee continues its public hearing which we know will include officials from the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and even the Commission on Audit.
The pressure is on, and the times ahead are challenging. But the masses are hopeful the dismissals and the legislative inquiries will bear good fruits.
