House panel suspends flood control probe

The House infrastructure committee will stop its probe into the anomalous flood control projects for now in light of the Palace’s establishment of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which is tasked to do the same.

“Today, we're announcing the suspension of proceedings of the House infrastructure committee to give way to the full and impartial proceedings of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure,” House InfraComm chairperson and Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon said in a press conference.

“Within the next few days, the InfraComm will turn over all transcripts, documents, and other pieces of information and evidence to the ICI. And it is our commitment to fully cooperate with the ICI on any and every aspect of our previous proceedings,” he added.

In the press conference, Ridon said that Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III will go to the ICI himself today to turn over the findings of the House InfraComm proceedings which last two hearings.

These findings, Ridon said, include:

• the resignation of members of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) over allegations of unexplained wealth and licenses for sale;
• the disclosure of P1 billion pesos in cash assets of MG Samidan Construction, one of the fifteen largest flood control contractors named by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.;
• the disclosure of the financial statements of all Discaya-linked firms from 2014 to 2023 which showed the sharp rise of their consolidated revenues during the Duterte administration and beyond; and
• initial testimonies and evidence linking high-level officials in the executive and legislative to the ghost and substandard flood control projects in Bulacan.

“The Speaker will do the turnover of our findings himself to show the institution’s commitment to work with the ICI. These [documents] include transcripts, photos, financial statements, screenshots,” Ridon said.

It was also before the InfraComm wherein dismissed Bulacan 1st district engineer Henry Alcantara admitted Tuesday that he issued a certificate of completion on the P55-million flood control project in Baliwag, Bulacan which turned out to be a ghost project.

It was also before the InfraComm wherein Alcantara's subordinate, former DPWH Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, presented photographs of huge amounts of cash in bundles and stated that the pictures were taken from the Bulacan First District Engineering Office sometime in 2022 or 2023 for distribution to flood control project "proponents," meaning commissions of public officials off government flood control projects.

Before Ridon’s announcement, Dy already said that the flood control probe is best left to the ICI, alleging that the majority of the public do not find the House InfraComm panel inquiry credible.

Asked if he agreed with the Speaker’s take, Ridon said that the top House leader’s comment was referring to the inherent skepticism of the public on public officials doing the investigations.

“There are members of the public who will question if legislative-driven proceedings would really be transparent since the names being mentioned involve our colleagues in the House and the Senate,” he said.

“That is the context of what the Speaker said. But to be clear, we have implemented protocols such as disclosure of conflicts of interest [among House InfraComm panel members], to assuage any concerns,” Ridon added. 

Further, he said the decision to suspend the InfraComm flood probe was a mutual decision among his co-chairs, Surigao del Sur Representative Romeo Momo and Manila Representative Joel Chua, given the ICI’s mandate.

“Irrespective of what the Speaker thought of it, it was [made in] a conversation with the members and I think the chairs of the three committees had basically agreed that since the ICI is up and running, it would be best that we suspend and to cooperate with the ICI,” he said.

 Further, Ridon said that the House InfraComm panel is eyeing to file bills which will ensure effective implementation of flood control projects such as:

• requiring private sector and civil society participation in project inspections and procurement, respectively
• mandatory disclosure of proponent and public disclosure in each and every program, activity or project proposed at any and every stage of the budget process and
• granting subpoena and contempt powers to the ICI

“The House infrastructure committee has full faith in the mandate, integrity and competence of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure. We trust that through its work, the ICI will be able to ensure transparency, that it will be able to ensure accountability, and most important of all, that it will be able to ensure justice,” Ridon added. — AOL/BM, GMA Integrated News