House panel to call more DPWH execs over flood control scam

The plenary hall of the House of Representatives. (Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The House rules committee will summon more officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to investigate an alleged flood-control scam, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said in a statement on Sunday.

“The public hearing in Naga has raised more questions than answers,” Andaya said.

Andaya said the House panel would issue a subpoena to senior DPWH officials, including Ma. Catalina Cabral, undersecretary for planning and public-private partnership; Rafael “Pye” Yabut, senior undersecretary for regional operations in Luzon; and Patrick Gatan, project director of flood control management cluster.

“The testimonies given under oath by those subpoenaed indicate a top-level conspiracy in the multibillion-peso flood control scam that may involve ranking officials of government,” Andaya said.

“At the very least, the testimonies and evidence point to DBM [Department of Budget Management] Sec. Benjamin Diokno in conspiracy with a senior DPWH official,” he added.

The House panel will also issue subpoena decus tecum — a subpoena for the production of evidence, in this case for DPWH official documents and transaction records related to flood control projects implemented from 2017 to 2018.

“The testimonies from the DPWH regional office and district offices in Bicol were very clear,” he said. “Top DPWH officials are ignoring Department Order No. 23 to bypass strict requirements for flood control projects.”

Andaya said requests for flood control pojects did not go through the right process.

“May nag-uutos galing sa taas na i-short cut ang proseso sa flood control projects. Hindi dumadaan ang request ng district offices sa regional offices as required by DO 23,” he said. “Deresto ang utos sa district engineers. Para maiwasan ang paper trail, no written orders or instructions. Viber messages lang.”

[Somebody from higher up ordered a shortcut in the process involving flood control projects. The requests from the district offices did not go through the regional offices as required by DO 23.]

“Whoever is downloading these instructions to the DPWH district engineers is possibly the one in cahoots with Sec. Diokno,” Andaya said. “These flood control projects submitted by the district engineers are then used to come up with a list of projects for approval by Sec. Diokno.”

“Kaya pala ang depensa ni Sec. Diokno, dumadaan sa DPWH ang request. May kasabwat pala sa loob. We will identify them in the next hearing,” he added.

[That’s Secretary Diokno’s defense is that the requests went through the DPWH. There was connivance with people inside. We will identify them in the next hearing.]

The House rules committee started its hearing on the alleged national budget “anomalies” last Jan. 3.

READ: House panel begins probe on 2019 budget ‘anomalies’

The investigation stemmed from Andaya’s accusation against Diokno.

Andaya said Diokno orchestrated the “insertion” of some P75 billion in infrastructure funds in the 2019 budget without the knowledge of the DPWH, President Rodrigo Duterte and other House members.

Andaya also said that P10-billion worth funds for infrastructure projects allocated by the DBM to Sorsogon last year were mostly “cornered” by C.T. Leoncio Construction — Bulacan-based firm — and eventually found their way to a construction firm owned by Diokno’s in-laws.

However, Diokno earlier denied Andaya’s accusations.

READ: ‘Andaya’s accusations are illusory’ – Diokno

“His accusations are illusory,” Diokno said in a statement. “The numbers are wrong and the narrative he’s selling is not grounded on facts.” /atm