Another probe

See what happens when floods inundate even the compound housing the building where senators currently hold office.

Senators appear to be raring to conduct a probe on what happened to the P1 billion a day allocated for flood control in the annual national budget since last year.

Whether the senators’ zeal will be sustained – and amount to accountability and significant reforms – is another story.

Senators said those to be grilled are officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The public will be monitoring how far the senators are prepared to take this probe. Will they go after congressmen and local government officials, who have a say in the identification and implementation of flood control projects? Will they go after all contractors, some of whom could be among their campaign supporters?

Laguna de Bay, for example, is supposed to be a flood outlet for the waterways of Mega Manila; the lake is a source of clean water and fish for the National Capital Region. But there is currently an unfettered reclamation frenzy around the lake, with the government looking the other way and treating the issue like a boil that will vanish by and by.

Just take a look at C-6, which is supposed to be a scenic lakeside drive with a bike lane and jogging area from Taguig to Taytay, Rizal. These days there’s hardly any lake to be seen from the circumferential road; there is only ugly reclaimed property interspersed with vast stretches of water lilies.

This is another case of regulatory failure combined with corruption and abuse of power and political connections. Will the Senate touch all the culprits?

Over in Bulacan, local officials, residents and fisherfolk groups are all pointing to reclamation and large-scale conversion of agricultural lands for what now looks like irreversible environmental destruction, permanently turning large swathes of the province into an ugly version of Venice.

Again, will the Senate probe touch those behind these projects, among them a self-styled savior of the universe who is a major campaign donor to all?

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With typhoons and monsoon rains regularly visiting our country, it’s not the first time that flood control projects became the focus of public anger, official condemnation and consequently a congressional investigation.

Even as COVID rampaged across the planet with no vaccine in sight in October 2020, flooding was also in the mind of then president Rodrigo Duterte. He decried rampant corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways, which handled most of the big-ticket flood control projects. Not even the threat of tokhang and being turned into a mummy, however, could end corruption in the DPWH.

Dissatisfaction with the DPWH led to the transfer of flood control in the National Capital Region to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. But like the bureaucracy that grows exponentially to provide the jobs that the economy is unable to generate, with no corresponding improvement in public services, the transfer to the MMDA has hardly made a dent in the flooding problem.

The Senate probe will have to look into the implementation of flood control projects not only by the DPWH and the MMDA but also by local government units, along with the role played by lawmakers in earmarking such projects. Are senators up to it?

Thanks to Marcos 2.0’s impounding of billions in “savings” of government-owned and controlled corporations, we now know that lawmakers have created the latest version of their pork barrel, through the unprogrammed appropriations that have also grown exponentially with each budget season. Road and flood control projects are among the favorites for unprogrammed funding.

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In the previous administration, then senator Panfilo Lacson called out the excessive and unjustified amendments made by the DPWH in the 2021 national expenditure program.

Lacson, who took the time to scrutinize the annual budget approval process, said commissions or kickbacks had become the rule rather than the exception in public works projects, involving not only DPWH officials but also lawmakers.

He noted a “pattern” in the late submission by the DPWH of its budget, with a marked reduction in the proposed funding for national projects while appropriations ballooned for local projects. He suspected that this was due to intervention by lawmakers for their pet projects.

A report at the time quoted Lacson as saying, “Fact is, contractors openly talk behind the backs of these officials, changing the definition of mabait (good) and maginoo (gentleman) in the process: officials from the executive and legislative branches who ask for ‘only’ 10 percent [commission] are mabait, maginoong kausap and those who demand 20 to 30 percent are matakaw (gluttons), while those who demand advance payments and renege on their word are balasubas and mandurugas.”

Over the years, certain DPWH officials have sighed that lawmakers routinely interfere in the identification and implementation of public works projects, and often even insist on tapping contractors who are not accredited by the DPWH.

Will the Senate probe go into this?