House member's name comes up in Lacson's speech vs. tainted flood control projects

GMA Network

a day ago

'Mr. President, Naujan is among the beneficiaries of P3.6 billion worth of projects, while Baco proudly lists P807 million, all of which is attributed to and owned up by the Office of a Congressman,' Lacson said.
The name of a member of the House of Representatives figured in the privileged speech Sen. Panfilo Lacson delivered on Wednesday to present findings on alleged irregularities in the construction of flood control projects in the country.
Upon his office's investigation, the senator said that there were so-called 'congressional insertions' in some of Oriental Mindoro's failed flood control projects.
He said his team observed that there were 'evident congressional banners' alongside many projects in the municipalities of Naujan and Baco in Oriental Mindoro.
'Mr. President, Naujan is among the beneficiaries of P3.6 billion worth of projects, while Baco proudly lists P807 million, all of which is attributed to and owned up by the Office of a Congressman,' Lacson said.
Lacson did not mention Oriental Rep. Arnan Panaligan's name in his speech, but his presentation showed project details showing the House member's name.
He said that there are two projects by the AGILA group in Barangays Burbuli and San Jose which supposedly came from the unprogrammed funds.
'Ang pagkakaalam ko po, masalimuot ang proseso ng paggamit ng unprogrammed appropriations under the special purpose fund para mag augment sa ilang items under the regular budget. Hindi po madaling ma-access ito….mahaba din ang requirements nito, Mr. President. So, ano kaya ang taglay na agimat ni Congressman?' Lacson asked.
'What gives, Mr. President? Kung saan may multi-million projects, dumadapo ang AGILA, pero lubog pa rin sa baha ang nadadapuan ng AGILA,' he added.
Panaligan says DPWH is project proponent
Panaligan denied involvement in the alleged anomalous flood control projects.
"Gusto ko lang linawin na ang proponent niyan ay walang iba kundi ang DPWH. At yan ay kasama na sa National Expenditure Program or NEP na dumarating sa Kongreso. NanggaLing sa Executive Department," Panaligan said in an interview.
"Hindi tayo ang nag-propose pero nandoon yun sa NEP. Ngayon, sasabihin tayo ang nag-finance. Technically, sasabihin Kongreso nag-finance kasi yung NEP na yon ay inapruban ng Kongreso at naging General Appropriations Act noong mapirmahan ng Pangulo kaya parang ang Kongreso ang nag-finance 'yan," he added.
"Pero ang reality, ang actual practice na nangyayari ay ang listing, identification and prioritization of FAT Condor Projects ay nang gagaling sa DPWH," Panaligan said.
Panaligan said that he was not consulted by the DPWH about the said projects, that he had nothing to do with their listing on the NEP, and that he was not involved in the implementation of the said projects.
"Ang implementor niyan ay walang iba kundi ang Regional Office ng DPWH. Wala rin papel ang Kongreso sa paggagawa ng program of works. Wala tayong kapasidad diyan ang Kongreso," Panaligan said.
"'Yan ay exclusive authority, exclusive territory ng DPWH sa paggawa ng design, paggawa ng plano, pag-bid, pag-award ng kontrata, at pagbabayad ng contractor," he added.
Panaligan also stressed that he had no connection with the contractors.
He also stressed that his district was flood-prone and was in need of flood control projects.
When asked if the said projects were indeed anomalous, Panaligan replied, "In the sense na nasira, puwede nating sabihin na anomalous nga kasi nasira eh ang mga proyektong yan."
But Panaligan showed the media a copy of a letter he sent Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan in July 2024 to complain about the damaged flood control projects and asked that these be repaired and reassessed.
Oriental Mindoro contracts
Lacson also noted that for a construction project of a flood control structure in Barangay Burbuli, a banner was posted with the text 'congressional project' and a logo of AGILA.
'In one Facebook post, we discovered a congressional representative showcasing his midterm accomplishment report, covering the period from June 30, 2022, to December 31, 2023. He openly lists projects, hold your breath, 'funded by his office,' including flood control and river protection initiatives,' Lacson said.
Further, he said that his staff traveled across 10 barangays in Oriental Mindoro to check flood control projects based on the list of awarded contracts from 2023 to 2025 that they obtained from the website of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
'The field validation came in the aftermath of the widespread flooding in the province of Oriental Mindoro during the habagat,' Lacson said, noting other anomalous flood control projects they found.
He also said that this is just one of the many banners and social media posts of "congressional insertions" of politicians across the country.
'There is an evident pattern of this nasty distribution of public funds among crooks. Ito ay base sa mga case studies na aming pinuntahan at masusing inimbestigahan sa iba't ibang dako ng bansa, partiklar sa isyu ng flood control,' Lacson said.
(This is based on case studies that we went to and thoroughly investigated in various parts of the country, particularly on the issue of flood control.)
Earlier on Wednesday, President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said he sees the huge anomalous and ghost flood control projects as an act of economic sabotage. –NB, GMA Integrated News