Manila, Philippines – Despite resignation as the chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is still actively participating in the ongoing investigations over anomalies and corruption tied with the government’s infrastructure program.
In an X post, Lacson expressed dismay over how wide the infrastructure corruption is, citing review of documents and reports from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Lacson says he came to a realization that instead of finding who is guilty, the more appropriate question now would be: “Who is not?”
As of October 6, 421 of 8,000 inspected flood control programs were confirmed as “ghost projects.”
DPWH secretary Vince Dizon confirmed this on Thursday, following the submission of the agency’s initial findings on the anomalies before the Independent Committee for Infrastructure (ICI).
DPWH teamed with the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and Philippine National Police (PNP) in validating these projects which are mostly from Luzon.
Dizon, however, clarified that these are just the initial findings, and still does not include the thousands of projects needed to be inspected and validated.
The secretary noted that DPWH and ICI focuses on ghost projects first as it is easier to point out who are to be held liable and accountable for the anomalies, making the case build-up quicker as well.
ICI recognized the significance of these DPWH findings, as it sets the momentum of the investigation, picking up pace to further inspect other districts and regions that may have questionable projects as well.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News