Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan pulled no punches in blasting the officials and contractors behind the anomalous flood control projects across the country.

“Their souls are already burning in hell,” Pangilinan said in Filipino.

In a media interview, the senator and chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform lamented how the country’s agriculture sector and agricultural workers suffer the most during times of calamities. 

Pangilinan underscored that flood control projects are vital to protecting lives, especially in low-lying and disaster-prone communities.

“Whenever there’s a disaster, the biggest damage is to infrastructure and agriculture, especially in floods,” he said.

Pangilinan lamented that non-existent and substandard flood control projects fail to protect farmers from the devastating impact of flooding and typhoons.

The senator cited a 150-hectare rice field in Oriental Mindoro that now lies buried under rocks and cement after several substandard flood control projects collapsed.

“So, that has a direct bearing. I said these people are not dead yet, they are still alive but their souls are already burning in hell,” he said.

“This should really be investigated and these addicts punished. You’re kidding me about that trillion, right?” he added.

Pangilinan again expressed his support for the creation of an independent investigative body by law.

The commission, he added, should be led by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Pangilinan also urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to appoint an Ombudsman who would go after the contractors and those involved.

He again pressed for the resignation of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, saying it was a clear display of incompetence on his part to have failed to uncover the anomalous infrastructure projects under his watch.