MANILA — The House Infrastructure Committee (Infra-Comm) will invite members of the 2024 bicameral conference committee (bicam), including former House appropriations chair and Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co and former Senate finance chair Sonny Angara, to upcoming hearings to shed light on the P96-million “ghost” flood control project in Bulacan.

This was disclosed by House public accounts committee chair and Infra-Comm co-chair Rep. Terry Ridon (Bicol Saro partylist) during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City. Ridon earlier stated that the project was a congressional insertion—meaning it was added by either a congressman or senator into the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which was later signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Ridon noted that Co and Angara led their respective chambers’ contingents in the bicam deliberations tasked with reconciling the Senate and House versions of the national budget prior to its submission to the president.

Earlier this week, Ridon revealed that the project along the Angat River in Plaridel, Bulacan—inspected last Thursday by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon—was not included in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) prepared by the Department of Budget and Management, nor in the House-reconciled version of the GAB.

The project was supposed to be implemented by Wawao Builders, one of the Top 15 contractors named by President Marcos Jr. as having cornered the bulk of the country’s flood control projects over the past three years.

It was signed off by certain officials of DPWH Bulacan as completed in 2024, but Dizon said during his inspection that work only began three weeks ago. He remarked, “Pero siguro, three weeks ago, umiinit, nag-iimbestiga na ang Senado at Kongreso, nagalit na ang Pangulo, pinipilit buhayin yung patay.”

Ridon emphasized that only the 2024 bicam members could clarify how the project was inserted.

He said, “The investigative logic of this is to ask the members of the bicameral conference committee of 2024 if they know who inserted this. We would have to ask them: Alam po ba ninyo kung sino po ang naglagay o nag-propose nitong line item na ito for flood control sa Plaridel, Bulacan?”

Co is reportedly in the United States on medical leave.

Ridon clarified that the bicam members may be invited to Infra-Comm’s hearings “in the next two or three weeks.”

He added that the committee’s next hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, will focus on contractors, including the nine-company empire linked to the Discayas.

“Sa darating pong pagdinig, I think the focus will be on the Discaya-linked firms – the projects that they undertook, ‘yun pong mga corporate structure nila, ‘yung ways kung paano sila sumali sa mga biddings,” he said.

Ridon confirmed that Infra-Comm has already issued invitations to the Discaya camp, as well as to Mark Arevalo of Wawao Builders Corp., Miguel Juntura of St. Timothy Construction Corp., Romeo Miranda of Royal Crown Monarch Construction, and Sally Santos of Syms Construction Trading.

He warned that failure to attend the hearing could result in contempt citations. “At siyempre, ‘pag cinite in contempt, puwede po silang ipaaresto,” he said.

Ridon also stated that the committee will continue to invite former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, stressing that Alcantara’s claim of negligence in signing the project’s completion certificate without personal inspection is unacceptable.

Ridon insisted that Alcantara “intentionally defrauded” the government and should be held liable for plunder.

📷 Saturday News Forum