Never-ending story

Just last Thursday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) filed charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against four construction companies as well as several officials and employees of the DPWH's district engineering office in Bulacan over alleged kickbacks in government flood control projects.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

A total of 25 individuals and four construction companies were included in the complaints for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Government Procurement Reform Act and malversation and falsification.

The contractors and DPWH employees were charged in connection with five anomalous contracts in Bulacan following a recently concluded Internal Audit Service inspection that revealed "a consistent pattern of fraudulent misrepresentation, falsification, collusion and blatant disregard of Commission on Audit regulations across multiple contracts in order to effect the release of payments to contractors, notwithstanding the non-performance or insufficient performance of the project."

Meanwhile, President Marcos has issued Executive Order 94 on Sept. 11 creating a three-member independent ad hoc fact-finding commission that will prioritize the investigation of flood control and other infrastructure projects within the last 10 years from the effectivity of the said order.

According to the order, there are reports and allegations of irregularities, misuse of funds and possible corruption in government flood control and related projects, which, if true, endanger the safety and security of the Filipino people, threaten the welfare of various communities and erode public trust in government institutions.

The said commission is mandated to investigate, receive, gather and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports and information on irregularities in government flood control and infrastructure projects and is also tasked with conducting hearings, taking testimony and issuing subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and production of documents necessary for its investigation.