Palace: No directive from Marcos to 'redo' flood control probe

There is no directive from President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. to ''redo'' the investigation of anomalous flood control projects following reports that incorrect grid coordinates were submitted to him.

''Wala pong ganyan, kailangan lang po talagang maitama kung ano po ang nangyaring pagiimbestiga ngayon. Ang sabi naman po ng DPWH bago sila magsampa, tinitingnan po nila nang maigi, kung may pagkakamali hindi naman po nila ito agad sinasampa,'' Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said at a briefing.

(There's none, there's just a need to correct the investigation done at present. The DPWH said before they filed cases, they thoroughly investigate and if they do not immediately file cases if they noticed some mistakes.) 

Castro said the matter lies within the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

''So it's up to Sec. Vince to make amendments, to correct everything so the real culprits will be held liable,'' Castro said. 

Only 14 out of the 421 flood control projects initially flagged as “ghost projects” have been confirmed to be non-existent, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday said.

During the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on alleged irregularities in flood control projects, acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said cases have already been filed with the Sandiganbayan involving two of the 14 confirmed ghost projects.

The remaining 12 projects—linked to SYMS Construction Trading and Waowao Construction Trading—are still undergoing preliminary investigation.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson earlier alleged that former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan deliberately submitted incorrect grid coordinates to Malacañang for thousands of flood control projects, resulting in what he described as “grossly inaccurate data” during validation.

Due to this, DPWH Undersecretary Arthur Bisnar said authorities may need to “restart over” with the validation process. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News