• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Bacolod City Lone District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has called on the government to impose a temporary blacklist on any contractor with a history of unfinished, substandard, or grossly delayed flood control projects until they are cleared of wrongdoing.
He said in a statement this will immediately protect the budget from further waste while emphasizing that incompetence and corruption will have immediate consequences.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier ordered a comprehensive investigation into the government’s multibillion-peso flood control program after an internal review that revealed “disturbing” patterns in the awarding of projects and spending, including 15 contractors securing nearly 20 percent of more than P500 billion budget program.
“Contractors should not be allowed to profit from the misery of our kababayan. Those who fail our people must be shut out from government projects until they prove they can be trusted again,” Benitez said.
“The President, in following through on his commitment to publicize the names of the contractors involved in flood control projects, has taken the first real step to hold accountable those who benefit from public funds without delivering results,” he added.
“The next step must be to ensure that every peso in our flood mitigation budget is spent on projects that actually protect lives and property – not fill the pockets of the corrupt,” the lawmaker said. | GB
