With the number of anomalous infrastructure projects linked to Discaya-owned firms continuing to pile up, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson called for a whole-of-government approach, including reinforcing the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) with adequate personnel and logistical resources, to address the deepening mess.
Lacson cited the uncertainty felt by residents of Provident Village in Marikina City over seeming defects in the Marikina dike, whose construction is being handled by Discaya-owned firms.
“The ICI may not be able to cope with the complexity and enormity of the problem at hand.”
“At the rate the number of substandard, uncompleted and even ghost infrastructure projects being attributed to the Discaya-owned firms keeps piling up, the ICI may not be able to cope with the complexity and enormity of the problem at hand,” the veteran legislator said.
“Hence, the national government, including Congress, must reinforce the Commission with adequate personnel and logistical resources, even additional legal power and authority by way of legislation so they can accomplish their assigned tasks,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
The senator cited an investigative report on Inquirer.net where the Marikina dike cracked barely a year into its construction, prompting repairs and raising concern among residents.
The ICI recently said that of the 29,800 flood control projects built between 2016 and 2024 that it is inspecting, 421 were initially found to be ghost projects – including 261 in Luzon, 109 in Visayas, and 51 in Mindanao.
“The ICI aims to refer 15 to 20 cases to the Ombudsman in one month’s time.”
ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said the ICI aims to refer 15 to 20 cases to the Ombudsman in one month’s time.
Lacson, whose privilege speeches last August and September bared the extent of corruption behind substandard and ghost flood control projects, reiterated that a whole-of-government approach is needed now if the government is serious in ensuring a “logical conclusion” to the mess, with the prosecution and conviction of those involved.
“It goes without saying, if we really intend to prosecute, convict and recover their loot including their cohorts in Congress and the Department of Public Works and Highways and other implementing agencies similarly responsible for these unprecedented misuse and abuse of public funds, a whole-of-government approach is extremely necessary, not later, but now,” he concluded.
