MANILA, Philippines — Massive cash deliveries to now-sacked engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), including a P457-million one-time payment last March, may signal the involvement of higher-level players in the ongoing flood control project scandal, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said on Friday.
Sen. Lacson, who also heads the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, expressed surprise over reports that a contractor delivered large sums of cash to DPWH engineers, when payments should normally flow from the agency to the contractor.
He was referring to cash deliveries made by Syms Construction owner Sally Santos to former DPWH Bulacan engineer Brice Hernandez at least three times this year.
“It is baffling. Why would a contractor deliver cash to the district engineering office when it should be the other way around — the DPWH pays the contractor for completed projects,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
He questioned in particular the purpose of the P457 million and why it was paid in cash.
“What projects are involved? And why pay in cash?” he asked.
Lacson suggested that Santos may have received payment for completed projects only to return the funds to Hernandez, describing the arrangement as “anomalous.”
During the Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing on Thursday, Santos testified that she delivered cash to Hernandez on at least three occasions this year: P457 million on March 24, P141 million on May 6, and P65 million on May 23
The senator said investigators were still trying to determine how the money was divided. He also noted that former DPWH Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara’s refusal to cooperate in the hearing may indicate he was protecting someone.
“He is obviously protecting someone. If Alcantara cracks, maybe we can get to who is behind him,” Lacson said.
Lacson also raised the possibility of an insider in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which can recommend to the President the release of unprogrammed funds, including possibly for flood control projects.
“You can suspect that,” he said.
However, Lacson traced the roots of the corruption to lawmakers who insert funds into the budget.
“It appears the seed of all this is Congress. If no one allocated or inserted, we wouldn’t have come to this. If there is someone to blame, it is the lawmakers who have become greedy and brazen,” he said.
The senator said he would remain focused on evidence in the investigation rather than public pressure.
“I will not be distracted. I will be guided by evidence, and not necessarily go where angry netizens want to take us. We go where the evidence leads,” he said
