Not even allies would be spared in the crackdown on corrupt officials involved in substandard or “ghost” flood-control projects, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his BBM Podcast aired yesterday.
The President also signaled that investigations will not be limited to flood-control projects, citing a World Bank estimate that 20 percent of the country’s annual budget is lost to corruption.
“It (investigation) has to be evenly applied. We can’t audit only one area. Whoever was complicit in this kind of work, I’m sorry,” he said.
Mr. Marcos confirmed the government had allocated P980.2 billion for flood control over the past three years, but lamented the lack of progress on the ground.
“I’m sorry. You’re no longer my ally if that (involved in corruption) is what you’re doing. I don’t want you as an ally,” he said.
“Someone should be held accountable for the hardships our fellow countrymen are going through. Our people have to be told who is responsible and somebody has to answer for their suffering,” Mr. Marcos added.
Senator Erwin Tulfo over the weekend said the President has fired an undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Tulfo, however, declined to name the official, whom he described as “the richest undersecretary in the world.”
For his part, DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan on Monday categorically denied social media claims that six lawmakers cornered P800 billion worth of flood control projects, calling the allegation “preposterous” during a House briefing on the DPWH’s infrastructure programs.
Appearing before the House Committee on Public Accounts, Bonoan said the DPWH had no record to support the widely circulated claim made by a political blogger, as Senior Deputy Speaker David Suarez strongly condemned the post and warned against the spread of such disinformation.
“To me, it’s a little preposterous, actually, to have something like this—P800 billion for six members of Congress,” Bonoan said.
Suarez raised the issue, pointing to a Facebook post circulating online that accused unnamed congressmen of manipulating flood control budgets for personal or political gain.
Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. then asked Bonoan to state on the record whether such an allocation existed.
“What I’m saying is that we don’t have any specific record of this kind of allocation for the six congressmen that has been put into this [post],” Bonoan replied.
