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President Rodrigo Duterte denounced what he said was massive corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Speaking to the public Wednesday night, the president said that no infrastructure project could start without going through hidden deals.
He singled out project contractors and engineers as the biggest providers of corruption in the department.
He told Congress, which is examining the proposed budgets of government agencies like DPWH, that part of the project’s infrastructure spending went to bribes.
“Hindi ko alam kung sino (I don’t know who they are). There are so many officials lined up in the bureaucratic labyrinth, ”he said.
Senators Franklin Drilon and Panflio Lacson previously attacked DPWH after discovering more than P300 billion in global appropriations included in their proposed P667.3 billion budget for 2021.
However, the president made it clear that he still trusted DPWH secretary Mark Villar, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Thursday at a news conference.
Despite widespread corruption in his department, Villar was able to deliver, Roque said.
He did not rule out an investigation into alleged corruption at DPWH, but said that at this time the president’s focus is on tackling corruption at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Last September, Duterte, who had repeatedly said he would not tolerate corruption under his administration, revealed that he had offered to resign because he was tired of fighting corruption in government.
Lacson said that he “unknowingly provided the sordid details of such misuse and abuse of DPWH funds” at the Senate Finance committee hearing on the department’s proposed P667 billion budget on Wednesday.
He added that it was based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the “shattered” or “mutilated” version of the late DPWH filing.
“The shattered version alone, which contained a pattern of reduced budgets for national projects and increased budgets for local projects, is highly questionable,” Lacson said Thursday.
“Said presentation should only have detailed the global sums in the NEP that Malacañang presented to Congress on August 25, but not to amend what was originally presented, which is the exclusive function of Congress as part of the budget process, therefore preparation, authorization , execution and accountability ”, he continued.
“It has become an open secret that kickbacks or bribes have become the rule and not the exception in the implementation of public works projects that involve not only some corrupt department officials but also some legislators,” He said.
“The fact is that the contractors speak openly behind the backs of these officials using descriptions too degrading to even mention,” Lacson said in a text message.
The senator added: “I will only mention comparisons whispered aloud by contractors who have shared with us their personal experiences with different officials, both in the Executive and Legislative branches.”
He said that officials in the executive and legislative branches who ask for “only” 10 percent bribes are “mabait” (kind).
“Those who demand 20 to 30 percent are ‘matakaw’ (greedy), while those who demand advance payments and don’t keep their word are ‘balasubas’ (scammers) and ‘mandurugas’ (criminals),” Lacson said.
That said, if no substantial adjustments are made once the final version of the GAB (General Appropriations Bill) of 2021 is transmitted to the Senate, hopefully next week as promised by the new president, I intend to propose during our debates or to realign the excessive and unjustified ‘NEP amendments’ that the DPWH made illegally, ”he warned.
With reports from BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
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