Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan is calling on relevant government agencies to initiate claims against warranties and performance bonds tied to flood control projects that have failed to deliver on their intended outcomes, particularly in light of the recent widespread flooding that affected several provinces.
In his interpellation during the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on the anomalous flood control projects on Thursday, Sept. 18, the senator inquired from Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon about the status of the performance bonds and warranties of the substandard projects currently being subjected to the investigation.
“Dapat silang parusahan sa kasong kriminal pero dapat din silang parusahan doon sa pinansyal na mayroong bonds na dapat sumagot at sinasabi ninyo na tens of billions na kailangan isauli,” Pangilinan said. “Sabi nga nila, ‘You hit them where it hurts.’”
This was after Dizon informed the senator that warranty claims had already been initiated against some of the contractors of the anomalous flood control projects, and that these warranties and performance bonds could add up to tens of billions to hundreds of billions of pesos.
Earlier, Pangilinan had already urged the government to enforce warranties, penalties, and surety bonds—most of which run for as long as five years—from flood control contractors, insisting that “monetary punishment” would be “fast and immediate.”
The senator also expressed hopes that the hearing into the anomalous deals will ferret out the truth about the corruption in the government’s infrastructure projects.
“Tuloy lang ang hearings despite the changes sa leadership ng committee. What do we expect? The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” he said.