Corruption in the DPWH
By Gonzalo Duque
THE findings that there were 421 ghost projects related to flood control nationwide exposed the weaknesses of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as an institution mandated to accomplish its task of providing and addressing the infrastructure needs of our country.
Other than addressing the perennial problem of flooding, the DPWH concerns itself with other activities like the construction and maintenance of school buildings, the construction of farm-to-market roads, and the like.
There should be a law that will limit the scope of work of DPWH as it is already overburdened by what it is doing as of the present time.
In the meantime, the mounting call for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to hold its hearings publicly should be heeded.
No less than the former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales—has advised ICI to hold their hearings in public for the people to know the extent of the corruption in the DPWH.
This is the cry of our people. If this is not heeded, I am afraid that the administration of President Bongbong Marcos will be facing a lot of setbacks that might even result in the latter’s downfall.
But a figure in all this brouhaha is a rising young man in the person of Rep. Kiko Barzaga of Cavite. He caught the attention of the public when he exposed the ‘sins’ of the Marcos administration. In fact, he is calling on President BBM to resign, stating that the latter is responsible and accountable for putting us into the quicksand that we are all in today
The attention being given to us by the international community is making our problem even worse.
Our Overseas Filipino Workers are now the subject of ridicule because of the perceived unmitigated corruption in our country.
For all you know, the Philippines has now become a pariah in the international community. Parang iniiwasan na tayo ng buong mundo dahil, palagay nila, may ketong tayo.
To the corrupt, I dare say: “Ketong ina ninyo!”
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We congratulate PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez and his group for the sizable seizure of a large quantity of illegal drugs in Labrador, amounting to P6.9 billion, plus another P850 million in a buy-bust in Bugallon.
These all came from a drug syndicate or drug cartel that has now been operating in Pangasinan.
Earlier, several months ago, another drug haul happened in Agno, Bani, and Anda from whose waters fishermen found big volumes of floating shabu.
It seems that Pangasinan is fast becoming a drop-off point for illegal drugs because of our unprotected sea lanes.
We can just imagine the damage that may have been done if this big volume of illegal drugs had reached our population.
In the war against drugs, the battle cry, which I personally believe must be observed always, is “jail the drug manufacturers and pushers, but save the users”.
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The program of Mayor Belen Fernandez, Bantay Dagupan, Sumbungan ng Bayan”, comes at a time when misinformation, fake news, or disinformation are being peddled right and left in the city through social media and some other platforms.
It is meant to directly address the concerns of our city mates relative to their problems that they want to be immediately acted upon.
Like any other programs of any public officials, the Bantay Dagupan seeks to elicit from the public their honest perception about their government in Dagupan City, from any blah, blah, blah appearing on special media.
I hope that this program will be a continuing one until the next election! Ha, Belen.
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