LACSON: CONGRESS IS THE ‘ORIGINAL SIN’ BEHIND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT HELL

FLOODS and the corruption behind substandard and ghost flood control projects have turned Filipinos’ lives into a living hell, and Congress is the “original sin” behind it all.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson stressed this on Monday as he said the logical conclusion to the Senate investigation on the matter must at least reach this “original sin.”

“We must make sure that the logical conclusion does not stop with Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, Sally Santos or the Discayas. We must see to it that the logical conclusion reaches the ‘original sin,'” Lacson, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee looking into the mess, said.

“Congress is the original sin here. If congressmen and senators did not insert funds, there would be no funds for corrupt Department of Public Works and Highways officials to play with, especially in the district engineering offices. It has come to a point where corruption became systemic, where even junior functionaries invent their own money-making schemes,” he added.

Lacson is to chair the next hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 9 a.m. He said he has asked Senate President Vicente Sotto III to slightly delay the start of the regular session to 4 p.m.

Sacked DPWH engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez, Syms Construction owner Sally Santos, and Cezarah and Pacifico Discaya II are among those who had attended the Senate Blue Ribbon panel’s hearings on the issue.

While Hernandez had shown signs of remorse and cooperation with the Senate along with Santos, Alcantara was cited in contempt of the committee and ordered detained for his refusal to cooperate. Pacifico II was cited in contempt of the committee as well, while Cezarah was issued a show cause order.

Lacson said the Blue Ribbon Committee is to analyze on Monday the documents and other items submitted by Hernandez after he was allowed to return to his home under tight security to retrieve potential evidence to back his allegations.

Earlier, Hernandez had linked Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada to insertions in the 2023 and 2025 budgets, as well as kickbacks for flood control projects. Villanueva and Estrada denied the allegations.

When asked what he expected to get from the items Hernandez brought back, Lacson said the important thing is to get to the bottom of the case.

“The important thing is to get to the bottom of the case and hold those accountable to task. Not just the Hernandezes and Alcantaras of this world, but those above them. As of now we cannot get to them until we gather enough evidence,” he said.

Lacson reiterated that former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo is among those invited to Tuesday’s hearing. He said Bernardo as DPWH undersecretary for operations appointed Alcantara to the DPWH in Bulacan. Alcantara at the time was floating and “seconded” to the City of Manila under then Mayor Joseph Estrada.

HELPING ICI

Lacson added that if during the hearing, evidence is presented that may help the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s investigation, it will be shared with it immediately.

“I am not bragging but we can greatly help the ICI, if we don’t keep evidence to ourselves, and we will not. We will help,” he said.

SELF-RESTRAINT

Meanwhile, Lacson reiterated the need for Congress to practice self-restraint and not make insertions for locally funded infrastructure projects.

“I hope House Speaker Faustino Dy III and Senate President Tito Sotto can agree with the chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee to bar insertions for infrastructure projects especially for the DPWH. Because it all starts there, and some lawmakers got greedier and greedier,” he said.