Unless legislators go beyond shielding each other, the ongoing investigations into the spreading budget scandal would have a limited reach, protecting the fundamental enablers of the practice of extracting the pork barrel from the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab lobbed a bombshell yesterday during the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) hearing on the possible pilfering of Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects that used cheap foreign funds in the 2025 national budget.

In 2024, the P27 billion foreign-assisted projects were defunded, leaving only P9 billion in 2025.

ODA projects require counterpart funds that the government is required to raise to prevent the cheap loans from turning into doles.

The manipulation of the ODA projects was particularly suspected in the final phase of the budget process in the bicameral conference committee, which critics call the third chamber of Congress.

Senate leaders spearheaded the juggling of funds in the national budget over the past two years.

Ungab suspected the funds were distributed as a pork barrel, broken down into small district-based flood control projects.

The projects included the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, which would reduce flooding in the National Capital Region, worth P6 billion in 2024 and P6.8 billion in 2025; the Pasig-Marikina Channel Improvement Project, costing P6.6 billion in 2024 and P7.4 billion in 2025.

Also dislocated was the Cavite Industrial Area Flood Risk Management Project, which was valued at P1.7 billion in 2024 and P5.9 billion in 2025.

The Flood Risk Management Project for the Cagayan de Oro River, which would protect urban and riverine communities, was also slashed. It had a target allocation of P3.6 billion in 2024 and P1.2 billion in 2025.

Hit also by the manipulation in the bicam was the Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project covering the Abra River Basin, Agus River Basin, and the Tagum–Libuganon River Basin, worth P420 million in 2024 and P3.1 billion in 2025.

Ungab lamented that the big-ticket items were essentially dismantled by reallocating the funds to the pet projects of senators and congressmen.

Probes must include all

Senator Erwin Tulfo expressed concern over the limited reach of Congress’ investigative powers amid the growing public frustration over the multi-billion-peso flood control corruption scandal as Senate and House members appeared to be getting a pass.

In a television interview on Friday, Tulfo said the Senate has not subpoenaed any of the lawmakers linked to anomalous infrastructure projects due to inter-parliamentary courtesy.

“Sa totoo lang…hindi naman talaga pinapadalhan ang mga mambabatas kasi may tinatawag tayo na inter-parliamentary courtesy (As a matter of fact… lawmakers are not being subpoenaed because we have inter-parliamentary courtesy),” Tulfo said.

“Hindi pwede imbestigahan ng Senado ang Kongreso. Ang Kongreso hindi rin pwede imbestigahan ang Senador (The Senate cannot investigate Congress. Likewise, Congress cannot investigate a senator).”

Support for the establishment of the Philippine Independent Commission, as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has thus snowballed, offering hope for an impartial and thorough probe.

Tulfo said the possibility of inviting senators and congressmen to testify before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probing the flood control mess rests on panel chairperson, Senator Rodante Marcoleta.

No tolerating corruption

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also welcomed the call of business leaders and civil society to stamp out corruption in government, vowing that the House of Representatives will never condone abuses in public service.

“I welcome and respect the strong statement made by our partners in the business community and civil society calling for an end to corruption in government. Their concern echoes the very principles of transparency, accountability, and integrity that the House of Representatives has committed to uphold,” Romualdez said.

Thirty influential business groups condemned graft and corruption in government, particularly in Congress, at the Department of Public Works and Highways, local government units, and the Commission on Audit (CoA).

Overhaul PCAB

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, meanwhile, called for a full-scale overhaul of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), decrying its role in the deepening corruption scandal involving substandard and non-existent flood control projects.

Lacson described the PCAB as a “low-key yet corruption-ridden regulatory body,” pointing to systemic abuses, including the sale of accreditations, extortion targeting contractors, and glaring conflicts of interest among board members.

“A complete overhaul of the PCAB board is in order at this point,” Lacson said.

He lamented that the PCAB, in tandem with the DPWH, has “methodically punched the country in the gut, knocking out the people’s hard-earned taxes.”

Lacson’s remarks followed the reported resignation of PCAB Executive Director Herbert Matienzo, which Trade Secretary Cristina Roque attributed to “personal reasons.”

The resignation came amid mounting scrutiny after President Marcos ordered a probe into an alleged “accreditation-for-sale” scheme.

Lacson previously exposed irregularities in PCAB’s operations, including board members who owned construction companies securing government contracts, noting it is “a clear conflict of interest.”

He also alleged that some PCAB officials were extorting contractors in exchange for accreditations.