Says Palace given wrong coordinates of flood control infra
Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan deliberately submitted to Malacanang wrong grid coordinates for thousands of flood control infrastructure, including 421 that were identified as ghost projects, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson disclosed yesterday.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said he received “reliable information” that Bonoan intended to mislead the President and that the incorrect data formed part of the ‘Sumbong sa Pangulo’ website which lists flood control projects and the contractors that handled them.
“This resulted in grossly inaccurate data involving some 421 ghost projects among previously inspected flood control projects earlier reported to the public by the DPWH and which it is now trying to rectify,” the senator said.
“That’s part of misleading Malacanang. If it was just one or two wrong coordinates, we can say it was inadvertently omitted or it was an honest mistake. But the mistakes were prevalent and you can see the submission of wrong grid coordinates was deliberate.”
“He misled it to weaken or destroy the credibility of the claim that there are ghost flood control projects. If it fails, people will think the ‘Sumbong sa Pangulo’ website is unreliable,” Lacson added.
Lacson said the DPWH is now attempting to rectify the mistakes by cross-checking records in its Multi-Year Planning and Scheduling (MYPS) system, Project and Contract Management Application (PCMA), and other related documents.
Lacson said it was “clear” that Bonoan was complicit in the questionable infrastructure projects.
“Even if we say that he is not the principal (involved), just in the cover-up you can clearly see his complicity,” he said.
He said a new witness is expected to appear during the resumption of the Blue Ribbon hearing on Monday, January 19, to testify on Bonoan’s submission of wrong grid coordinates.
Lacson said a subpoena will also be issued against Bonoan should he fail to attend the hearing next week.
He said the Blue Ribbon is also prepared to coordinate with Philippine and United States authorities to facilitate Bonoan’s return.
He said Bonoan’s inaccurate grid coordinates resulted in bloated figures of ghost projects that were verified by composite teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development.
“Based on the initial report, there were 421 ghost projects out of 8,000 projects. That number is bloated. Why? Because when the composite teams went to a site to inspect suspected ghost flood control projects, the grid coordinates were wrong, so of course they wouldn’t find any project. So, they reported those projects as ghosts,” Lacson said.
“Substantially, the number of ghost flood control projects should be lower,” Lacson said.
