Outraged by the discovery of hundreds of alleged anomalous flood control projects, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the local government is ready to submit its own investigation findings before the newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) tasked by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to look into irregularities.
Belmonte, in a press conference, said that they would also submit the findings by the City Engineering Department led by Mark Dale Perral to Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon and to the Senate, which is also conducting its own inquiry in aid of legislation.
Out of the 331 projects from 2022-2025 with a P17 billion budget, only two were approved by the city government, said Belmonte, who believed that most were ghost projects.
“I’m outraged that this amount has been squandered. The amount could have been spent on education, among others,” she said.
“As a normal person, I believe there are ghost projects,” she reiterated.
Meanwhile, Belmonte said that she immediately reached out to some of the city’s lawmakers, including Reps. Patrick Michael Vargas, Arjo Atayde, Marvin Rillo, and Marivic Co-Pilar, who were named by contractor-couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya.
In their affidavit, the Discayas claimed that the QC lawmakers had solicited money from their company after their firm won government projects through bidding.
“They all denied they received money, but we will find out everything, as the city government is ready to cooperate with the ICI, and we start by submitting our findings from our own investigation,” Belmonte said.
Perral estimated that out of the P17 billion, P14 billion worth of the flood control projects were in contract under the city’s Drainage Master Plan (DMP).
Of the 331 projects, according to the investigation, 157 were funded and listed under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), while the rest were not.
“We have discovered that there were projects that were not in accordance with the project location, while there are those that really don’t have project coordinates,” Perral said.
Belmonte said some projects bore similar costs “as if they were just a copy-paste only.”
“There is this same amount — P14,499,000 — for each project, but from different places and with different project designs,” the city chief executive said.
“Worse, there were 91 out of 117 projects categorized under drainage projects but were constructed in areas in the city that are not flood-prone,” she added.
The same investigation revealed that the rehabilitation of the San Juan River involved 91 phases for a single project.
Of the list of 15 top contractors revealed by President Marcos, Belmonte said seven, including the Discaya-owned firms, had DPWH flood control projects in the city.
“We fully support the President on this endeavor. Every centavo of the people’s money should be returned through every project for the people. We should not allow the contractors to go on with their lavish lifestyle,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte signed a memorandum of agreement with Dr. Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay, executive director of the University of the Philippines – Resilience Institute and NOAH Center, and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers – QC Chapter in a bid to check if some of those discovered projects could still be rehabilitated or restored.
Meanwhile, Belmonte said she fully supports the indignation rally set for Sept. 21, but she expressed hope that it would not end in chaos.
