Independent agencies must probe flood control projects - Drilon

Metro Manila, Philippines - Independent agencies must take the lead in investigating the government's flood control projects and not the Congress, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said.

Drilon on Sunday, Aug. 17, said it must be the Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman that must probe the P590 billion flood control projects, explaining that the former’s function was to exact accountability, while the latter files anti-graft cases.

“Sa akin, without casting aspersion, ang hirap niyan hindi paniniwalaan ng taumbayan ang resulta ng kanilang imbestigasyon dahil sila-sila rin, ‘di ba?” Drilon said in a news release.

“Kahit anong sabihin mo ‘yung congressmen at mga senador sa public perception, sila ang naglalagay ng insertion, eh sila rin ang mag-iimbestiga?” he added.

[Translation: For me, without casting aspersions, it would be hard to believe the results of their investigation. In the public perception, congressmen and senators made the insertion then they will investigate themselves?]

The former lawmaker also said that the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development and the Department of Budget and Management must lead in the reforms.

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee is set to investigate flood control projects on Aug. 19, vowing it will go after officials linked to corruption.

Last week, reports said presidential son and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos also agreed that their chamber has no credibility to investigate alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

He said it may be prudent for the House to wait for the completion of the probe of the executive branch on the matter.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a corruption crackdown on the government’s flood control projects that were started or completed in the last three years. 

So far, Marcos has bared initial findings from the government’s flood control audit, citing projects with missing descriptions of the type of flood control being built, contracts with identical costs in different locations, and cases where the same contractor appeared across many provinces. 

RELATED: 15 contractors cornered ₱100-B flood control projects - Marcos  

The president urged the public to report anomalies in flood control projects through the portal ww.sumbongsapangulo.ph.