‘Magalong should stop sowing intrigue’

MANILA, Philippines —  After accepting the resignation of Benjamin Magalong as special adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), Malacañang has chastised the Baguio City mayor, saying his decision to quit was voluntary and urging him to stop sowing intrigue.

Magalong has lamented a press conference conducted by Palace Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, which he said effectively sent the message for him “to stand down” and stop investigating flood control anomalies.

He said he appeared to have “struck a nerve” and probably “hit too close to home.” He did not elaborate.

At a Palace briefing yesterday, Castro said: “He voluntarily resigned. He was not asked to resign.”

According to Castro, the President appointed Magalong as special adviser, and not as an investigator as he had presumed.

“That could have happened if he resigned as mayor. But the President said he chose to stay and to remain as mayor of Baguio City,” Castro said.

“We hope we can avoid the guessing game and refrain from sowing intrigue, especially when it comes to my job,” she said.

Magalong, who quit late last month, said he made the decision after Castro issued a statement that seemed to indicate that he did not have the right to investigate since he was just a special adviser.

The mayor said the Palace’s pronouncements concerning his designation “run contrary to the terms of his appointment” and “undermined the role and mandate” entrusted to him.

Castro added that her statement last Sept. 26 that the Palace legal team would be consulted on the role of Magalong came from the President himself.

“Let us not create an intrigue that someone else ordered me to do so. Let us avoid stories without evidence,” she said.

Also at the Palace briefing, Castro said any information about the alleged “haunted” hospitals of the Department of Health (DOH) and the supposed overpricing of farm-to-market roads may be relayed to the ICI.

As the government looks into the flood control mess, the Sumbong sa Pangulo website – launched to gather information about questionable projects – has so far received nearly 20,000 reports from citizens.

“If there are documents, they can be relayed to the ICI so the concerned persons can be summoned and an investigation can be conducted faster,” the Palace press officer said.

ICI request

In a letter meanwhile to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the ICI has recommended slashing by half the “levels of authorities (LOA)” or amount of projects local public works engineering offices can manage in order to prevent phased implementation of projects.

In a letter to DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, the ICI proposed that district engineers be allowed to oversee projects worth no more than P75 million; and regional offices, P200 million.

Through Department Order 250 issued in December 2022, Dizon’s predecessor, Manuel Bonoan authorized district engineering offices to manage projects up to P150 million to “provide for more effective and expeditious implementation of projects by the DPWH Regional and District Engineering Offices.” The amount for regional engineering offices was P400 million. Anything above the cap is handled by the central office.

The ICI said it made the recommendation “in the course of its continuing investigation in relation to anomalous flood control projects and corruption within the DPWH.”

“I believe the secretary would be looking at this and acting immediately on the matter,” ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said.

Before being appointed to the ICI, former DPWH secretary Rogelio Singson said in a radio interview that it has become a practice for district engineers to “chop” projects into smaller parts to keep them within their authorized limits.

This was despite a department order explicitly stating that “splitting of plans and program of works for critical infrastructure projects into phases, just to fit the delegated authority of the concerned implementing office, shall not be allowed.”

Singson expressed concern that projects often do not reach regional offices because they are managed at the district level.

For instance, Sen. Panfilo Lacson uncovered in August 28 different projects in Bulacan with the same budget of P72 million. The differences of each item serve as a “code” for the “project owners.”- EJ Macababbad, Rainier Allan Ronda, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Rhodina Villanueva