By Gonzalo Duque

 

THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation, headed by Senator Rodante Marcoleta, into the botched flood control projects done by unscrupulous contractors under the watch of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) resumed last September 1.

It initially gave us  a glimpse of how the DPWH, Congress, and various contractors conspire to steal people’s money through ghost projects and substandard execution.

But will the guilty ones ever be punished? This is the multi-billion peso question.

I heard that because of the shenanigans and scandal in the House of Representatives, the House of Bongbong is slowly caving in.

Speaker Martin Romualdez is being blamed for the low trust rating of PBBM. Advisers of the President are now egging him to get rid of Romualdez, his first cousin, who has been too obsessed with becoming the President of the Philippines by 2028.

Since day 1 of PBBM’s administration, the Speaker and his ilk have been orchestrating a constitutional change so he can become Prime Minister. Failing in that, they have rolled the impeachment issue as an alternative.

I am sorry to see that even our church leaders have responded to the call to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte because of their fear that Sara will be the President by 2028.

The cry is, Anybody but Sara!

As time passes, Sara may end up becoming the 18th President of the Republic.

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We hear Jose Mari Chan singing Christmas carols again starting September 1, the start of the “ber” months, and  also the start of the longest Christmas season in the world lasting up to January 6. Every time I hear his Christmas songs, I become nostalgic and feel the spirit of Christmas.

But the ghost month of August still spooks me.

You see, my father, former Pangasinan Governor  Francisco Q. Duque Jr., also a former health secretary, died on August 13, 1976 (a Friday), while I was reviewing for my bar examination. 

So, whenever the ghost month approaches, I begin to fear death.

But these are just moments in our lives. Actually, they don’t really mean anything. What is discomforting though, is that the La Niña phenomenon has started.

On August 30, Quezon City was inundated by a flash flood due to a few hours of heavy rain. Manila also felt the impact of onrushing floodwaters. The last time Quezon City was flooded was during Typhoon “Ondoy in 2009.

I am looking at the events with a positive note. Our people should now really feel betrayed because of the incompetence and corruption of our supposed public servants—congressmen, some senators, and erring contractors.

With La Niña, we can expect more flooding and devastation.

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It is a pity that despite the overwhelming majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan headed by Atty. Joey Tamayo, they cannot force the different contractors and the insurers to appear in their committee hearings.

It is simply because the local government code did not grant the local government’s legislative body the subpoena powers, such as those granted to national legislatures.

Methinks that the local government code should be amended to give our local legislators the power to summon witnesses in their investigation and to cite them in contempt if they ignore the summons.

Until the local government code is amended, it will be hard—but not impossible—to make the local contractors accountable when they abandon their contracts.

Let’s wait and see whether the committees — on laws, ordinances and judiciary chaired by Tamayo, on market chaired by Jigs Seen, and on public works and utilities by  Karlos Reyna — will be able to pursue the cases against the erring contractors through City Legal Officer Aurora Valle.

In the meantime, the city should blacklist these contractors, which means they would not be allowed to participate in the bidding of any infrastructure projects in the city for nine years.

They should not also be allowed to create any other corporation that will again participate in the bidding using the principle of “piercing the veil of corporate fiction”.

These contractors will now be fairly warned about their possible accountability.

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I am delighted that DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon has been appointed as the new DPWH Secretary, replacing Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who resigned from his post.

Dizon will have a lot on his plate, considering that he will be facing Congress, the DPWH mafia,  and contractors.

Let’s watch him accomplish his goal. 

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