House joint panel subpoenas 5 contractors for skipping flood control probe

The House joint panel on Tuesday issued a subpoena to five contractors who failed to show up during the congressional inquiry on the flood control mess.

The joint panel is composed of Committees on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways, and Good Government and Public Accountability

The five companies were among the 15 firms named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which got the lion’s share of over P500 billion worth of flood control projects of the government.

The five include:

• Royal Crown Monarch Construction and Supplies Corporation,
• SYMS Construction Trading,
• Alpha and Omega General Contractor and Development Corporation,
• St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and
• Wawao Builders Corporation.

Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, chairperson of the House committee on public accounts which leads inquiry on flood control, said the probe will first zero in on the P55 million flood control project for a reinforced concrete river wall in Baliwag, Bulacan which turned out to be nonexistent.

“We have copies of all relevant documents to build the cases against officials of the DPWH 1st District Engineering Office and the private contractor, Syms Construction Trading, all of whom are involved in the ?55 million Baliwag ghost project,” Ridon said in his opening speech.

“The threshold for plunder is P50 million. This project is P55 million. Plunder charges should be filed against all involved personalities in the soonest time,” he added.

Ridon also cited two substandard projects in Calumpit, Bulacan, undertaken by St. Timothy Construction and Wawao Builders.

“The President had found concrete deterioration, with exposed loose cables and wires. The two substandard projects had been built within the last four years,” he added. —AOL, GMA Integrated News