Senator Raffy Tulfo raised alarms over the massive misuse of public funds intended for flood control projects, comparing the budget to butchered beef in the market.
During a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Tuesday, Tulfo claimed that billions of pesos allocated for flood control are being mishandled.
He painted a scenario where a P20-billion budget from the National Expenditure Program (NEP), bicameral conference, and program appropriations is allegedly sliced up and brought to Region 4b, where Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Director Gerald Pacanan is mentioned.
"Now yung 10 billion, si proponent na ang gagawa ng project dahil meron naman siyang kumpanya na nagco-contract– so ibig sabihin po siya ay isang contractor. So hindi na po natin malaman kung magkano eksakto ang kikitain niya dun sa 10 billion. Pero ang estimate po, aabot ng 60% kita niya, 40% na lang mapupunta sa project,” Tulfo said, implying that the proponent takes P10 billion and implements the project using their own construction company.
“Now yung 10 billion, si proponent na ang gagawa ng project dahil meron naman siyang kumpanya na nagco-contract– so ibig sabihin po siya ay isang contractor. So hindi na po natin malaman kung magkano eksakto ang kikitain niya dun sa 10 billion. Pero ang estimate po, aabot ng 60% kita niya, 40% na lang mapupunta sa project,” Tulfo said.
The remaining P10 billion, according to Tulfo, is handled by Pacanan. From that, only P5 billion is used for project implementation, and from the P5 billion, Pacanan will give 28% Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to the proponent.
Tulfo also stated that the remaining P5 billion will be given to Pacanan’s friends who are also contractors. The proponent will earn 28%, Pacanan will earn 18%, and the contractors will earn 30%. Minus the 7% for the taxes and the 3.5% deductions for Engineering Administrative Overhead (EAO), including the bids committee, etc.
“I-add niyo yan in total, 86.5%, magkano na lang napupunta sa project? 13.5%. Ganun po yung kalokohang nangyayari diyan sa Region 4b,” he said, noting that only 13.5% of the original P20 billion is actually spent on the real project.
Tulfo also revealed that some contractors are being paid 40% upfront, even if the project is far from finished, and will still make fake accomplishment reports.
“Dino-doktor. Yan po yung example lamang kung papaano po binabalasubas ang pera para sa flood control na dapat po imbestigahan ng committee na ‘to sa susunod po na mga hearing,” the senator emphasized.
