Senator Jinggoy Estrada said on Wednesday that the alleged 'ghost' flood control projects recently revealed in Bulacan may only be a fraction of a wider network of anomalies in public works across the country.
In an interview on DZRH's Dos Por Dos, Estrada said that the information gathered by his office pointed to at least "three ghost projects" in Bulacan alone. But he believes the problem is much bigger.
“Mayroong mga ghost projects hindi lang siguro sa lalawigan ng Bulacan kundi sa iba’t ibang parte ng bansa. Sa mga nakalap na impormasyon ng aking tanggapan, tatlong bayan nga sa Bulacan ang may ghost project na flood control,” Estrada said.
Estrada raised concerns over weak monitoring mechanisms within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), pointing out that some projects appear to have slipped past oversight and Commission on Audit (COA) checks.
“Dapat may monitoring department sila. Siguro kasabwat yung head ng monitoring kaya siguro hindi na rin nai-inspection. At hindi ko malaman kung paano rin nakapasa sa Commission on Audit ‘yan,” he said.
He said local government engineering offices also share responsibility, as they should have been able to verify whether funds downloaded to their municipalities were being used for actual construction.
“Dapat kung alam ng LGU, dapat siguro yung engineering department din ang mag-o-oversee kung talagang totoong may mga pondo na ibinababa sa kanilang lokal na pamahalaan,” Estrada said.
Estrada further criticized irregular practices in government bidding, saying some contractors win multi-million peso projects by “borrowing” the licenses of bigger, more qualified firms.
“Yung mga nananalo sa bidding siguro mga nanghihiram ng lisensya ‘yan. Kunwari Triple A ang category mo, ako maliit lang hihiramin ko ang lisensya mo tapos ‘yun ang isasama ko sa bidding mas qualified ka kaysa sa akin. Tapos bibigyan lang kita ng royalty five percent ng total amount of the project. ‘Yun ang common practice nangyayari,” Estrada said.
The senator named some firms allegedly engaged in this practice, adding that such arrangements have become “common” in securing government contracts.
Estrada suggested inviting officials from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) to explain how firms with limited capital are still able to land large-scale contracts.
He stressed that the Senate probe has only begun to uncover the scope of the alleged irregularities.
“Tip of the iceberg pa lang. Marami pa tayong madidiskubre sa susunod na hearing siguro,” Estrada said.
On Tuesday, August 19, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee held its first inquiry into the alleged anomalies in flood control projects, which Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan admitted he had only recently learned about, including the so-called ghost projects.
