With public anger growing over the corruption scandal involving government flood control projects, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has issued a “disinformation alert” declaring its stand against calls by some groups for its intervention. “These are clear attempts to sow doubt and erode trust in your Armed Forces. The AFP is a professional...
Tag: flood control projects
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‘Not an easy choice’: Magalong resigns from ICI
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong quit his post as a special adviser of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) on Friday, the same day Malacañang said his appointment is under review due to possible conflict of interest. His resignation was “not an easy choice, but one I believe is necessary,” Magalong said in a statement...
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I’m only happy when it rains
My wife and I woke up one Wednesday morning and I hit the snooze button on the alarm clock. It was raining and the air was cool. In the additional five minutes of sleep, otherwise known as negotiating with myself if I should get up or not, there was a quandary in my head: With...
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Who else benefited from the diversion of taxpayer money to graft-ridden public works projects?
The practice of diverting funds from education, health, poverty alleviation and other programs to graft-ridden public works projects, including flood control, also benefited congresspersons, senators, the Vice President and the President, who have seen their budgets surging over the past several years. This is the observation stated by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) in...
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Alcantara able to substantiate his bombshell testimony, Lacson says
The turnaround of former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, now a “protected witness,” in the large-scale flood control anomalies came as a surprise during the resumption of the Senate inquiry into the corruption scandal on Tuesday. But for Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, who chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee looking into the scandal, the...
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Return the money, jail the crooks: Vigorous protests again animate the motherland
The sun blazed all morning Sunday and rain poured intermittently starting in the early afternoon in Metro Manila. Still, attendance was vigorous at the twin protest rallies—dubbed “Baha sa Luneta” at Rizal Park and “Trillion Peso March” at the People Power Monument on Edsa—condemning the brazen corruption in flood control projects and demanding accountability. Attendance...
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Subdivision residents upset at discovery that Discaya firm bagged contract for bridge rehab project
ALABANG, Muntinlupa City — With the revocation of the project contractor’s license, residents of a private subdivision here are questioning the scheduled closure next month of a bridge to pave the way for retrofitting the South Luzon Expressway crossing. To their surprise and consternation, the residents of Pleasant Village learned just last week that the...
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From ‘Baha sa Luneta’ to ‘Trillion Peso March,’ Sept. 21 is a day of protest against corruption and for accountability
Street protests against corruption on Sept. 21 will culminate in a grand rally at the People Power Monument in the hope of reliving the “Edsa spirit” that led to the ouster of strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. But the goal is to hold erring officials accountable, not to topple President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late...
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Marcos names ex-SC justice Andres Reyes as flood control probe chair, vows no one will be spared
Not even his cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez or his political allies will be spared in the inquiry of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) into corruption in multibillion-peso flood control projects, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday as he appointed former Supreme Court associate justice Andres Reyes as its chair. With Reyes’ appointment, the...
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Marcos taps Singson, Magalong, CPA for the Independent Commission on Infrastructure
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed former public works secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, and seasoned accountant Rossana Fajardo to the independent commission tasked with investigating anomalies in the government’s multibillion-peso flood control and other infrastructure projects. He is expected to announce the commission’s chair in the coming days. Palace press...