Time and again, I have stated in this column that we have the opportunity as a region to have Congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as our Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

These are confusing times for Eastern Visayas

Sec. Vince Dizon announced last week that he will be submitting to the Ombudsman several complaints a week against corrupt government officials. Those involved are in panic mode.  In social media interviews, several DPWH officials have already revealed their defenses.

These corrupt DPWH employees better have a solid defense

My father, who passed away in 2001,  shared with me a few stories about his dealings with government personnel who were involved in infrastructure projects. 

Stories from my Father  

The term “conflict of interest’ is very popular these days. It refers to a situation where an individual’s personal interests will get in the way of fair and objective decisions. The result are decisions which favor the person making it and not the public.

When interests are in conflict

I remember that fateful day when I was still in government many years ago.. It was a  gathering for both the government and private sectors. I had a talk and mentioned that Eastern Visayas still suffers from so much poverty that the government still has a lot to do to save the situation from further deterioration. I thought I expressed it well because I cited statistics on the incidence of poverty.

Telling the half-truths has to stop

When the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced two cases of the ghost projects in Bulacan costing 150 million pesos each, then Secretary Manuel Bonoan declared them to be isolated cases, meaning there were just a few of them, a careless exploit of a few DPWH personnel. His statement was clearly an effort to hide the widespread practice. I do not believe he was unaware of it. 

It was not an isolated case after all

I watched the ANC interview of Sec. Manuel Bonoan held recently. It was interesting to note that he was obviously “lying through his teeth”. 


It Takes Two to Tango

A couple of issues ago, I mentioned here that it will take the Independent Committee on Infrastructure (ICI) nearly three years to file cases against those who have engaged in corruption. Recent meetings of the Senate on establishing an agency to address corruption have revealed that the extent of the problem is so vast that it will require a significant amount of legal work, which will overwhelm the ICI as presently constituted. 

The severe administrative requirements corruption of fighting 

 The resignation of Cong. FM Romualdez, our Representative for the first district of Leyte, from the Speakership is seen as a huge letdown for the district.  It seemed that we lost the district’s main backer in the flow of funds for the mega projects surrounding the district on all sides, in the shores, in the mountain sides, across a Bay, in the interior portions – a situation that has happened only now. In this sense it is a historical event. 

Replacing the Speaker

Time and again in recent pronouncements President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., mentioned the Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) as a government body that can tackle the task of monitoring problematic infrastructure projects. This statement shows he is aware of a government unit that monitors major government projects of the type that he has been exposing in recent weeks. 

When Monitoring Fails

I AM BACK: Atty Buenaventura Go-Soco Jr. Column

I AM BACK COLUMN: Atty. Buenaventura Go-Soco Jr.

I AM BACK

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