‘Mr. Clean’ blamed for corruption in DPWH

Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis has tagged a certain "Mr. Clean" as the brains behind corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In a privilege speech on Tuesday night, Solis said an assistant secretary heads a network of corrupt officials and has control over practically the entire DPWH, from its bureaus down to regional offices.

"Corruption in the DPWH is the handiwork of top officials of the department who efficiently run and control a network of influence or a web of conspiracy," he said. "All of these have been made possible through the genius of an assistant secretary, who has been unwittingly given so much power and control over all the bureaus and services of the DPWH, including regional directors and district engineers who have become mere puppets beholden to their masters in the DPWH hierarchy."

However, despite the parliamentary immunity that shields him from liability for statements made in the halls of the House, Solis, a retired military officer, chose not to name names.

What he offered his colleagues instead were mere clues: "It is interesting to note said assistant secretary was former BRS (Bureau of Research and Standards) director for about seven years before he was appointed assistant secretary, who, by the way, still has overall supervision and control of the BRS."

The bureaucrats Solis tried to denounce but failed to unmask were apparently the same DPWH officials who accused former acting Secretary Florante Soriquez of allegedly soliciting hundreds of thousands of pesos from them every month. Soriquez has denied the accusations.

The officials had formally petitioned President Arroyo to replace their boss. The petition was signed by a majority of Soriquez’s underlings. Mrs. Arroyo was forced to replace her acting public works secretary with former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Hermogenes Ebdane. Soriquez however was given the option of returning to his former post as undersecretary.

Though Solis claimed he was not protecting Soriquez, his remarks sounded like a defense of the former DPWH boss.