Philippine flood-control projects made substandard to allow huge kickbacks, Senate inquiry told

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Most flood control projects, road and other infrastructure projects built in a Philippine province near the capital in the last six years were substandard or overpriced to compensate for huge kickbacks given to congressmen and senators, a televised Senate inquiry was told on Tuesday.

The allegation was made by two former government engineers who helped oversee the works since 2019 in Bulacan, one of the country's most flood-prone provinces with more than 3.7 million people.

The sworn statements made by Brice Ericson Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee further deepen a corruption scandal involving mostly flood control projects which have sparked public outrage and protests in the capital region over the weekend.

On Sunday, police quelled a rampage by black-clad demonstrators, who hurled rocks, bottles and firebombs at anti-riot police and burned a container van barricade near the presidential palace in Manila. More than 200 people were arrested during the disturbances in which 100 law enforcers were injured.

Newly designated Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon separately said in a news conference Wednesday that an internal investigation found another 10 regional officials and engineers in his department who either have “lavish lifestyles beyond their means,” like traveling in private jets, or were implicated in infrastructure anomalies.

“The gravity of the problem is unthinkable,” Dizon said.

Under questioning by senators, Hernandez alleged that since 2019, infrastructure projects in Bulacan province have not been built according to approved specifications. Cheaper and longer-drying cement and low-quality construction materials were used to cover kickbacks, usually about 20% of the project cost or higher, for corrupt legislators and officials, he claimed.

“Not one of the specifications in the plans were followed,” Hernandez said. “All of those were not met.”

When asked by Sen. Erwin Tulfo if Bulacan schools and hospitals could crumble in a strong earthquake because of the anomalies, Mendoza said government buildings were built in Bulacan based on approved specifications, but that construction costs were bloated to compensate for the kickbacks.

Manuel Bonoan, whose recent resignation as Public Works secretary was accepted by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., told the inquiry he was unaware of the irregularities.

"This is the first time that I have heard about all these shenanigans,” Bonoan said when asked by senators to comment.

Hernandez and Mendoza have been dismissed from the Public Works Department's district office in Bulacan after acknowledging their role in the anomalies. Both have been accused of using huge kickbacks they pocketed to finance expensive lifestyles.

The pair are facing criminal complaints and have sought government protection in exchange for their disclosures against powerful legislators and politicians.

Hernandez and Mendoza also backed a statement by their former superior, engineer Henry Alcantara, who told the inquiry on Tuesday that legislator Rep. Zaldy Co received kickbacks from them through the legislator’s representatives in two hotels and in his upscale residence.

Co, an ally of Marcos, said the allegations against him were “false and baseless” and added that he would answer them before the proper forum.

Several House legislators, two senators and other public officials have been identified and implicated in the largescale corruption but have denied any wrongdoing.

As well as claims of existing substandard infrastructure, other flood-control projects have been reported as completed but allegedly were non-existent, including one Marcos said he discovered during a recent personal inspection in Bulacan, a notoriously flood-prone province.

The president first highlighted the flood-control corruption scandal in July in his annual state of the nation speech. He later established an independent commission to investigate what he said were anomalies in many of the 9,855 flood-control projects worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion) that were supposed to have been undertaken since he took office in mid-2022.

Marcos has described the alleged scale of corruption as “horrible.”