Beleaguered Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan appeared to have hastened his departure from the government as an angry populace vented its frustration over the flood control scandal, with the majority calling for him to resign.
In a video posted on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) website, Bonoan rejected the resignation calls amid the corruption issues involving overpriced and ghost flood control projects.
Bonoan promised accountability as DPWH chief instead.
“‘Yan po sana ang madaling gawin, mag-resign o talikuran ko ang problema (That would be the easy thing to do, to resign and turn my back on the problem),” he said, reading from a prepared statement.
The video immediately elicited public reactions, the majority demanding his head.
“It’s no longer acceptable to have substandard quality DPWH projects. What do you mean, Secretary? There were times when substandard quality projects were acceptable? No wonder they get destroyed so quickly, because of the DPWH’s ‘pwede na yan’ (That will do) policy!” commenter John Berdul said.
Another commenter, Dante Magrata, said: “If you really wanted no corruption in DPWH, then in your very first month in office you should have acted to investigate the anomalies in the agency. Why only now? It had to be President Marcos himself to expose them.”
Marcab Cabradilla shot off, “The root of this is the national politicians.”
To which Armando Bautista Abad agreed, saying, “They (politicians) act like saints now, but in truth those congressmen involved are all demons.”
Nice words scarce
Other indicting comments were:
Ignacio Roxas Hernandez: “You should resign from your post as DPWH Secretary. There are many qualified people, not just you.”
Nora Morales: “You all know about the corruption, but you let yourselves be silenced by money. Every greedy act has a price before God. Forever, you will pay for the evil you’ve done to others. From the grave to the eternal fire that never goes out.”
Jean L. Danao: “You’ve enriched so many, together with the contractors you favored. You turned some into trillionaires with substandard and ghost projects. Now you complain? Your people should have inspected right away but they were in collusion too, so it never reached you. Corruption in DPWH is at the highest level. All of you involved should be ashamed!”
Joel Whi Lusung: “You should have been the first to detect those ghost projects and anomalies. You are their boss. Don’t you know about the Doctrine of Command Responsibility?”
Tolights A. Bajan: “So it’s ‘no longer acceptable’? That means before, it was acceptable? Here in Japan, it’s automatic — command responsibility. Harakiri.”
Pongkoy Rey Monteras Manrique: “Shame on you. At least PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) found out about the ghost projects — you did nothing.”
Vince Robles: “Thick-faced!!! Hold those accountable to account!!! You and your political and contractor cohorts stole trillions!!! We demand accountability and justice — nothing else will do!!!”
Angelica Lay: “Pathetic that only now you’re scrambling, when the thieves have already caused so much damage! We will wait for immediate results from this investigation — hopefully it won’t just end up as a nightmare.”
Jefferson Garcia Blay: “Why only reassignment? If corruption is clear, shouldn’t they be removed from the agency and face legal action?”
Paul Dominik: “What they want is zero accountability. He should be talking about recovering the stolen funds.”
Mirai No Tameni: “Change the bidding process. Digitalization and e-procurement so that politicians won’t know who bought the bid documents. Do the bid openings online. Strictly ban subcontracting. And above all, stop being the cash cow of politicians.”
Alex Maristela Bolon: “After three years, you only saw this now? Resign — the people pay your salary and we no longer want your service. If you won’t resign, make your boss take a hair follicle drug test first — since he’s willing to do a lifestyle check anyway, add the drug test, too.”
Albert Bolante: “If you don’t tolerate corruption, why only notice it now? If it hadn’t been called out, you wouldn’t have known? What are you doing with all the reports? No site visits? Your nonsense is so obvious!”
Edgardo Flora: “Therefore, Secretary, you are not doing your duty, because if the President himself hadn’t inspected the anomalous and ghost flood control projects, you wouldn’t have known. In other countries, when things like this happen, the head of the agency commits suicide — as a way to avoid being emulated.”
Neth Capsa: “Why does the President have to be the one to remove or jail you? The ghost and failed projects are as clear as the sun. Don’t you understand your supervisory duty, sir???
Bonoan: Head held high
The adverse reactions were contrary to the apparent goal of the video, which was to soften the public reaction by rationalizing Bonoan’s persistence in clinging to his post on the need to cleanse the agency of endemic graft.
“But leaving or avoiding responsibility is not the right way to find a solution. For me, I will take accountability, but remember, I will not tolerate or allow any kind of corruption,” Bonoan said in Filipino.
