The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has become a hub for criminal syndicates, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Wednesday.
Lacson said new information has surfaced showing anomalous activities in the agency’s engineering offices across the country.
“There are so many irregularities involving the district engineering offices. The district engineer points to contractors and borrows their licenses, which he will use to implement the project,” he revealed.
“There are also feelers that there are irregularities in even the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board. The DPWH has become a playground for syndicates,” Lacson lamented.
Earlier, during his privilege speech, Lacson detailed corruption linked to failed and ghost flood control projects in Pampanga, La Union, and Oriental Mindoro.
He said fly-by-night contractors, such as Darcy and Anna Builders, have also secured multiple flood control project contracts in Bulacan.
The absence of traceability in the budget allows project “funders” to avoid accountability for anomalous projects, Lacson noted.
The lawmaker warned that future efforts could target automatic appropriations if transparency is not enforced.
He said full disclosure in the budgeting process is necessary to identify and hold accountable lawmakers proposing amendments or realignments.
