Include local chief execs, solons in ‘FloodGate’ probe, PDP says

The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) called on the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to broaden its inquiry into the Marcos administration’s alleged flood control anomalies, warning that the probe would fall short if it focused only on contractors and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, PDP deputy spokesman, said in a statement that local executives and legislators must also be summoned and investigated, stressing that they are “an indispensable part of the problem, as well as the solution” to the scandal now dubbed “FloodGate.”

Topacio said, “We strongly urge the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, in connection with the ongoing legislative inquiry on the flood control fiasco of the present administration, not to stop or place undue emphasis on the contractors and DPWH only, but to summon and investigate local executives and legislators involved in the scandal.” He argued that contractors were often at the “bottom of the food chain” in government infrastructure projects and were compelled to bow to the demands of senior DPWH officials and “meddling politicians” to keep their businesses afloat.

“If there is to be a holistic solution to the problem to be provided by legislation after the inquiry is over, then all those involved should be made to face the music,” he added. “Otherwise, the investigation will become only ‘a promise to the ear to be broken to the hope.’”

Hearings are being conducted by the Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, on alleged irregularities in flood control projects nationwide, which critics say have been marred by overpricing, substandard construction, and political interference.