Lacson blames Congress for flood projects mess

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Monday blamed Congress for the “original sin” behind the widespread corruption and failure of flood control projects, which he said had turned the lives of Filipinos into a “living hell.”

In a radio interview, Lacson said the legislative branch’s practice of inserting funds into public works budgets enabled the systemic graft in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Congress is the original sin here,” Lacson, who chairs the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, declared.

“If congressmen and senators did not insert funds, there would be no funds for corrupt Department of Public Works and Highways officials to play with, especially in the district engineering offices. It has come to a point where the corruption has become systemic, where even junior functionaries invent their own money-making schemes,” he said.

The senator made the remarks ahead of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s next hearing scheduled for today, 23 September. The committee is investigating the massive corruption in substandard and ghost flood control projects involving kickbacks, fund diversions, and bogus contractors.

Among those who have appeared at the Senate hearings are dismissed DPWH district engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez, Syms Construction owner Sally Santos, and contractor-couple Pacifico Discaya II and Cezarah Discaya.

While Hernandez and Santos appeared to be cooperating with the investigation, Alcantara was cited in contempt and detained for refusing to answer the committee’s questions. Pacifico Discaya was likewise cited in contempt, while Cezarah was issued a show-cause order for being absent.

The Senate panel is currently analyzing documents and evidence submitted by Hernandez, who was briefly allowed to return to his home under tight security to retrieve records to back his claims.

Hernandez had implicated Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada in alleged budget insertions and kickbacks linked to the 2023 and 2025 flood control allocations — accusations both lawmakers have strongly denied.

Lacson made it clear the investigation will not stop with the lower level operatives.

“We must make sure the logical conclusion does not stop with Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, Sally Santos, or the Discayas,” he said. “The goal is to hold everyone accountable, especially those above them. But we need hard evidence to do that.”

Former DPWH Undersecretary for Operations Roberto Bernardo has been summoned to Tuesday’s hearing.