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It is disgusting how some of our senators and congressmen were quick to issue public statements after the Carina flood, castigating DPWH for failure in the execution of our flood control measures.

The attempt to wash their hands of any responsibility for the mess is intellectual dishonesty. A senator or congressman who claims he doesn’t know the root cause of the failure in flood control must be sleeping on the job or a liar. Two words: pork barrel.

But the legislators are correct to lament how hundreds of billions of pesos are wasted each year, indeed a billion pesos a day in the current budget. DPWH admitted that even after decades of flood control projects, they don’t have a master plan and are spending the budget willy-nilly like patchwork. But legislators are complicit in the failure because they have rendered the massive flood control budget useless by dividing the amount among themselves to finance their pork barrel.

Indeed, the observation has been made that flood control projects are the biggest racket in the government.

The Philippine News Agency reported that as of March 2022, 13,917 flood control projects have been completed under the Build Build Build program of former president Duterte according to DPWH acting Secretary Roger Mercado at the Duterte Legacy Summit.

In his SONA, BBM claimed to have completed over 5,500 flood control projects. For this year, about P255 B was allocated for the DPWH flood control projects.

After his rare inspection tour to see for himself field conditions after the flood, BBM had to admit what he saw was an eyeopener. Despite “many flood control measures… we have these floods. We have to relook. We have to reexamine some of the designs of our flood control measures.”

Flood control projects are implemented by the DPWH engineering districts and the contractors are chosen by the congressmen and the other LGU officials.  Dredging, desilting and estero cleaning are favorite projects because it is said that such projects command from 40 to 50 percent commission from contractors. And often enough the congressmen and LGU officials own the construction company so it is a 100 percent take.

Furthermore, no politician nor any DPWH officer has been convicted or imprisoned for corruption in flood control projects. Difficult to audit these projects, specially dredging.

A speech delivered by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong comes to mind because as a local official himself, he knows what he is talking about.

“Last March, I was given a chance to talk to about 1,100 municipal mayors, all members of the League of Municipalities. Three weeks ago, I had the chance to talk and speak before vice governors of the different provinces.

“For the first 15 minutes, everybody was just so enthusiastic, listening to me, looking at my impressive presentation. And then I start talking about good governance. I start talking about traditional politics. I start talking about corruption. It is a direct correlation with poverty. And when I start doing that, they also start looking at their cellphones. Are we not going to ask ourselves, is corruption now becoming a norm in government? Is good governance becoming an exception?

“It is very sad that they have a percentage in every project. They already have a percentage. They are still the contractor. They are still the supplier. Unfortunately, only a few people raise this issue…

“Nakakalungkot. Nothing have we heard from our legislators that they are willing to give up their pork barrels. Kahit manlang sana sabihin nila na bawasan niyo yung pork barrel. But nobody, for some reason, nobody would admit na meron pala silang pork barrel. But now that I am with the local government, the fact remains that there is still a pork barrel.”

Unfortunately, our DPWH secretaries have been moral cowards. When they were summoned in Senate or House hearings, they took an oath to tell the truth, giving them the opportunity to tell the “honorable” senators and congressmen that they are the cause of the problem because they are taking the money meant to control floods. Congress has blood on its hands for flooding deaths and injuries. Expose our legislators for being hypocrites.

But most of our people are to be blamed for voting these corrupt characters into office. It is now estimated that 70 percent of our legislators and LGU officials are connected to the construction industry. It is difficult to tell exactly who are contractors because of dummies but it is safe to say the construction industry is vertically integrated in terms of access to pork funds.

During the last presidential campaign, we tried to elect a servant leader but our people thought they would rather have those who will steal from our national treasury and keep them mired in poverty and hardships. They elected a vice president who had no concern for their plight and flew to Germany for a family vacation at the height of Carina’s torrential rain. A sharp contrast is Leni Robredo who demonstrated a master class in disaster response. In less than five hours, she swiftly handled the crisis:

Robredo worked closely with local government units and other organizations to support rescue efforts; she promptly opened Angat Buhay emergency hotlines, providing rescue and immediate assistance; Robredo activated the Angat Buhay Volunteer Network, mobilizing partners and volunteers to assist in relief efforts;

Angat Bayanihan partners were set up to provide hot meals and food packs to thousands of evacuees; She reactivated Bayanihan E-Konsulta; She rallied volunteers to participate in relief operations.

All these without public funds. Walang confidential funds. Her swift and effective response exemplifies strong leadership in disaster management. Imagine having her in a top government position! Mabilis! Honest. May malasakit.

But most of our people make stupid choices every time they vote. They are to blame for their miserable conditions specially when natural disasters strike.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.