Senate flood initiatives investigation: Neutral or political?

“Mahiya naman kayo!” (Have some disgrace!)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the scathing comment throughout his fourth State of the Nation Tackle on July 28, signaling his crackdown on authorities officers and their non-public sector accomplices concerned in anomalous flood management initiatives.

He adopted this declaration with an inventory of the high 15 authorities contractors awarded P100 billion value of flood management initiatives, prompting investigations in each chambers of Congress.

Thus far, the Senate has carried out two hearings on the anomalous flood management contracts, with a 3rd scheduled for Monday, September 8. The Senate blue ribbon committee, chaired by Senator Rodante Marcoleta, is main the higher chamber’s probe.

Make no mistake — the Senate, via its blue ribbon committee, has lengthy carried out high-profile investigations aimed toward bettering laws and addressing loopholes in current legal guidelines. Nonetheless, as critics have identified, the state of affairs turns into extra difficult when some senators themselves are allegedly linked to contractors. This raises considerations about whether or not the general public can actually anticipate a good and neutral probe. (READ: Lawmakers and development agency contractors: The ties that bind)

Elephant within the room

Thus far, the Senate probe has but to handle the elephant within the room: When will the panel query the contractors with alleged hyperlinks to senators?

At least Senate President Chiz Escudero has ties to a contractor. His high donor within the 2022 elections was Lawrence Lubiano — president of Centerways Development and Improvement Included — who contributed P30 million to Escudero’s marketing campaign. Lubiano’s agency was additionally named by the President as one of many high 15 contractors, rating seventh within the variety of contracts awarded.

Lubiano appeared on the September 1 listening to after being subpoenaed for skipping the August 19 session. Nonetheless, Lubiano was not questioned throughout his preliminary look. He solely launched himself and took his oath as a useful resource particular person. He was not amongst these subjected to senators’ intense grilling in the course of the five-hour session.

It was a distinct story on the Home probe on the identical sizzling challenge held a day after the Senate listening to. Akbayan Consultant Chel Diokno grilled Lubiano on his firm, their authorities contracts, in addition to his ties with Escudero. The contractor confirmed that he personally donated to Escudero’s 2022 marketing campaign, when he had authorities contracts.

Is the Senate panel, particularly its chairman, reserving questions for Lubiano in future hearings and can it scrutinize his relationship with the Senate president whom most of its members had elected?

The corporate of the household of Senator Bong Go, a member of the Duterte bloc alongside Marcoleta, has ties to controversial contractor Sarah Discaya, whose position in authorities contracts was just lately scrutinized in a Senate investigation. A Rappler report revealed that CLTG Builders — owned by Go’s father — partnered with Discaya’s St. Gerrard Development to win 5 infrastructure initiatives within the Davao Area, totaling over P816 million in 2017.

Through the September 1 listening to, Go reiterated that he has no involvement in his household’s enterprise and that if any wrongdoing is discovered, the federal government ought to pursue authorized motion. Nonetheless, the committee investigating the federal government contracts is identical panel the place Go serves as vice chairperson.

In the meantime, Senate Majority Chief Joel Villanueva of Bulacan, acquired a P20-million marketing campaign donation from New San Jose Builders Included (NSJBI), which, in accordance with the Philippine Heart for Investigative Journalism, had lively authorities initiatives in 2022.

On August 19, in the course of the preliminary listening to of the blue ribbon panel, Villanueva questioned resigned public works secretary Manuel Bonoan about whether or not or not Villanueva had lobbied for a flood management mission in flood-prone Bulacan. Bonoan responded that he couldn’t recall any such mission.

To observers of the listening to, Villanueva’s line of questioning seemed to be a determined try and distance himself from controversy, amid allegations linking him to a contractor and studies of “ghost” infrastructure initiatives in his residence province.

On Wednesday, September 3, he additionally denied ties with dismissed Bulacan 1st District engineer Henry Alcantara, who’s being linked to ghost initiatives within the province. This adopted the circulation of photographs and movies of them collectively.

Villanueva is just not the one senator whom Alcantara is being linked to. Through the September 1 Home listening to, Alcantara mentioned that it was Senator Mark Villar who appointed him as Bulacan 1st District engineer in the course of the Duterte administration, when he was DPWH secretary. Will the Senate panel prolong its probe past the Marcos administration?

There have been rising public calls to broaden the probe to incorporate initiatives carried out throughout Villar’s tenure as DPWH secretary from 2016 to 2021. In spite of everything, it was Discaya herself who revealed that her corporations started securing authorities contracts from “2016 onwards,” or in the course of the Duterte administration and Villar’s management of the DPWH.

Home probe

A day after the Senate launched its investigation, the Home of Representatives on Tuesday, September 2, started its personal probe into the identical challenge. Previous Rappler investigations have proven that the congressmen themselves had been securing authorities contracts via corporations owned by their households.

There’s a marked distinction in how the 2 homes are conducting the inquiries. In the beginning of the primary listening to, there have been Home members who had no qualms about placing their very own colleagues within the sizzling seat. Lawmakers debated whether or not to ask Ako Bicol Consultant Zaldy Co, who has been beneath scrutiny for his connections to Sunwest and Hello-Tone, corporations recognized by the President as among the many high flood management contractors within the Philippines.

The Home mega panel additionally required its members to submit a written disclosure that there is no such thing as a battle of curiosity that will come up from their participation within the congressional inquiry. This stemmed from the movement of Diokno.

With separate probes taking place concurrently in each chambers, political observers say it’s a waste of public funds because the lawmakers concerned are sometimes utilizing the platform for grandstanding somewhat than real investigation. The following Senate listening to is on Monday, September 8.

In a textual content message in response to Rappler on Thursday, Senate Minority Chief Tito Sotto mentioned he has been attending the investigations to “discover out what laws could be carried out to restructure and place correct safeguards in order that we are able to make sure the folks’s cash is spent accurately.” Sotto is an ex-officio member of the blue ribbon panel.

When requested if he believes the general public can anticipate a good probe beneath Marcoleta’s committee, Sotto reserved remark. – Rappler.com