House panel members clash on Marcos' responsibility in flood control mess

Is President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. responsible or not in the flood control mess?

Members of the House committee on justice on Wednesday clashed over the question during the discussions for the determination of the sufficiency in substance on the second impeachment complaint lodged against the President.

The second impeachment complaint filed by the Makabayan coalition alleged that the President betrayed public trust because he allowed the Department of Public Works and Highways to implement the Baselined-Balanced-Managed (BBM) Parametric Formula which provides that “priorities of the leaders of the national government and the legislature will also be considered in the matter of infrastructure budgetary allocations” resulting in anomalous flood control projects.

“They are alleging that the President is institutionalizing systemic corruption through the BBM parametric formula, abuse of discretionary power as regards unprogrammed appropriations, and direct personal involvement in kickbacks. It is clear from the complaint that the President did not do any overt act that will show that he directed these three schemes. In the first place, it was not the President who created the BBM parametric formula of the DPWH,” San Juan Rep. Belle Zamora said.

She said having an imperfect policy direction is not an impeachable offense and the President having a direct personal involvement iin the flood control mess is not clear from the allegations.

"We should not tolerate the use of hearsay allegations, videos that are not attested to, or fake news. To say that the Office of the President has become the command center of a criminal enterprise is not only unfounded but is also a mere dramatic rhetoric,” she added.

Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin, on the other hand,  said that the BBM formula allowing priorities of govenrment leaders to be funded is a normal course of government operations.  

“This [second impeachment complaint] is not sufficient in substance. Number one, a planning allocation formula is not illegal on its face. Government budgeting necessarily involves policy priorities,” he said.

“The phrase, priorities of leaders, even if quoted, is not proof of graft. It is consistent with political accountability in appropriation, especially where Congress itself sets national priorities. The complaint does not cite a constitutional provision prohibiting executive consideration of policy priorities in infrastructure programming,” he added.

Likewise, Garbin said there is no documentary evidence that the President “authored, ordered, or used the formula to commit a corrupt act.”

“The complaint infers presidential culpability from branding BBM and from the existence of managed stage. That is not ultimate facts, Madam Chair. It is an argument. It does not plead an impeachable offense, nor a willful constitutional breach,” he added.

House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of ML party-list, for her part, said the allegation making the President the architect of the anomalous flood control projects is a conclusion, rather than a factual allegation.

“The DPWH adopted BBM parametric formula for allocating P545.6 billion in flood control appropriations for 2022 to 2025. As a result, the unprogrammed appropriations exploded from P251.6 billion in 2022 to P807.2 billion in 2023. I consider this, Madam Chair, a sufficient factual allegation. [But] the second sub-allegation, the managed stage of the parametric formula admits that political patronage determined allocation of funds…this is a conclusion derived from the language of the BBM parametric formula and not a factual allegation,” De Lima, a former Justice Secretary, pointed out.

But for the endorsers of the second impeachment complaint, the President’s fingerprints on the flood control mess is undeniable because the policy clearly bears his nickname BBM and it happened under his watch.

“Ang formula na ito ay di lang nakapangalan o nakapalayaw sa acronym ng Pangulo na BBM, pero siguradong dumaan din sa mata ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. at pinangasiwaan taon-taon. Meron pa nga pong declaration si incumbent DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon that they will phase out the Cabral Formula in the future NEP preparations. Pumaldo dahil pinadulas ng DPWH sa ilalim ng Pangulo ang sistema ng nakawan na nakatago mismo sa proseso ng pagbubudget ng pondo ng bayan. Nakakasira sa tiwala ng publiko ang pag-imbento ng isang modus operandi na nagbigay daan sa nakawan sa kaban ng bayan. This is an impeachable offense,” Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co said.

(The formula is named after the President, and for sure, this formula passed his scrunity because he oversaw its implementation. The DPWH chief himself said the formula won’t be used anymore because the system became a money making scheme under the President’s watch.  A modus operandi that paved the way for plunder of public funds destroys public trust.)

“This BBM formula legitimized political patronage at corruption. The policy considered ‘priorities of leaders’. Ibig sabihin, ang pambansang badyet ay hindi ayon sa pangangailangan ng mamamayan, kundi ayon sa gusto ng mga nasa kapangyarihan,” Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago added.

(That means, the national budget was crafted not to address the people’s needs, but according to the whims of the powerful.)

House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list, for his part, said their assertion is not a mere conclusion because former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo confirmed that the BBM formula resulted in kickbacks for public officials, including the President.

“Usec Bernardo told the Senate inquiry that it is the leaders of the government who are the proponents of the projects, and this is the basis for the kickbacks or commitment fee. He even mentioned the DPWH giving advance payment to the proponent ahead of the national budget approval,” he said. —AOL, GMA Integrated News