‘Pulong’ defends P51-B Davao projects

Davao Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte on Wednesday slammed the House probe into questionable flood control projects after a top Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official said his district got P51 billion worth of projects during the term of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Paolo Duterte bristled after DPWH Undersecretary for Planning Maria Catalina Cabra revealed his Davao district had received P51 billion in infrastructure funding from 2020 to 2022, the last three years of his father’s term.

Cabral made the revelation during the House infrastructure committee hearing on Tuesday, when panel chairs Terry Ridon and Joel Chua pressed her to validate a 2024 report that cited her earlier statement. She reiterated that the allocations were part of the DPWH budget, documented in both the National Expenditure Program and the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Duterte lashed out at his colleagues, accusing them of weaponizing the inquiry to divert the issue of corruption in flood control projects and make his family a scapegoat. He said the panel should refrain from politicizing the probe but rather to focus on the facts and the evidence.

“Don’t twist the story and pin the blame on our family just to hide your own dirt,” the lawmaker said. “If the infra comm is indeed doing an investigation, do it correctly and fairly. But if it is another effort to ruin our family, file the cases and spare the taxpayer money from this circus.”

The report in question showed that for 2020, the administration of then president Duterte initially proposed P4.67 billion in flood control projects in Rep. Duterte’s district. However, the budget swelled to P13.74 billion in the 2020 GAA. This recurred in the 2021 GAA when the allocation ballooned to P25.03 billion from the proposed P9.67 billion.

In the 2022 GAA, the last budget prepared by the Duterte administration, Rep. Duterte’s district was reportedly allocated P13.04 billion worth of infrastructure projects, including for flood control, despite the original proposal being only P10 billion.

This despite then appropriations panel chair, Ako Bicol Elizaldy Co, saying that districts were typically allocated P500 million to P2 billion annually. The years 2020 to 2022 were Rep. Duterte’s first term as a lawmaker.

Those years overlapped with the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the country was grappling with the severe economic fallout.

Chua questioned why Duterte’s Davao district received such a massive allocation, pointing out that the funds could have been used to buy much-needed medical supplies during the pandemic and help prevent the country from plunging deeper into debt.

Refuting claims of influence-peddling, Rep. Duterte said he had never interfered in budget talks in the House, even in the past Congresses.

Furthermore, the lawmaker said, he had nothing to hide, contending that his projects were “built on solid ground.”