Bulacan province bore the brunt of the series of typhoons that caused massive flooding. What happened to the flood control projects for this rice-producing part of the so-called Central Plains of Luzon? The National Capital Region and other provinces had it bad, too. Flood control projects in the form of dredging operations have been slow, sloppy, absent, or few and far between despite billions allocated for them. We saw how some dikes crumbled with rain, showing their innards made of inferior materials. But happy are those who made a killing. Who are they? Where are they?
How can a contractor with a measly P250,000 in capital bag a P5-billion flood control project? Did it deliver promptly and according to the specs? If P250,000 is all it takes, many (including me) could easily outmatch that. If he and his partners were not aided by government insiders (elected, appointed, career bureaucrats), how could they have been so blessed and so lucky to have won contracts? How could another contractor with P1.25 million capital bag a P7.58-billion contract? What was it like in the prequalification stage?
Flashback: During the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, when countless Filipinos were either dying or dead, unscrupulous individuals with shell companies also made a killing by supplying overpriced face masks, face shields, and other personal protective equipment. Worse, they eased out Filipino PPE manufacturers of good standing in favor of inferior China-made products. That was during the Duterte presidency when the head of state, aka commander in chief of the Republic, became a nocturnal being of sorts. In all, 66,864 COVID-19 deaths in the Philippines (7,010,681 worldwide) were recorded.
What happened to the questionable Pharmally deal? Has anyone been convicted yet? How is it that hereabouts, tragedy, and disaster breed scoundrels laughing all the way to the bank?
Fraud control/anti-fraud patrol and other fraud-busting mechanisms for flood control project implementors sound good to hear. But until we see the kleptos haled into court and end up behind bars, the cycle of fraud will never end. There is a small bureaucracy (under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources?) that oversees flood control that was brought up during the Senate hearing last Tuesday. There is? But the DENR and the Department of Public Works and Highways do not seem to know each other’s whereabouts. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.
In an interview, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong had something very unflattering to say about district engineers, the do-it-alls from start to finish, but their most important role of all, taga-abot.
Another investigating/overseeing body is being proposed even while the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration is monitoring the intertropical convergence zone and tracking a low-pressure area east of the Philippine area of responsibility and headed toward the northern portion of … Wham! What a life.