Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte on Tuesday morning criticized the handling of flood control projects in the Philippines, directly pointing to accountability at the highest level.

“BBM is at the top of the chain of command, and for the past three years he allowed this to happen. So who’s responsibility is that?” Baste said in Filipino.

He also condemned the diversion of blame onto lawmakers. “Now he exposes his congressmen, but they are also under him. You, as president, signed that budget. And now you blame someone else? You boasted in your second SONA that you had 5,500 flood mitigation projects, and this happens? You are the president, the executive — if there is someone to blame, that will be him.”

Baste added: “Magalong is aligning himself, but those they are fighting are the congressmen… why not question the president himself? We are being diverted to the congressmen — cooking show — but who is really responsible? Who signed the budget? Who implements it? It’s the DPWH. That is under the president.”

Responding to the president’s claim that some projects were “useless” due to corruption or substandard execution, Baste said: “They will indeed become useless because there is no directive. The PACC, the watchdog of corruption, he dismantled. So who is responsible now? He is.”

He further criticized the lack of follow-through: “If he were serious, he would file a case against those contractors he claimed were responsible. Remaining silent with no results… that is just a cooking show.”