August 25, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — To protect the credibility of all ongoing investigations on flood management tasks, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan should think about occurring depart, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian mentioned on Saturday.
Stressing that accountability rests with Bonoan because the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) prime official, Gatchalian mentioned “at least the secretary ought to guarantee there aren’t any extra ghost tasks come 2026.”
“For me, in order that the investigation might be credible and unbiased, he ought to go on miss of delicadeza as a result of the investigation is operating,” Gatchalian instructed radio dzBB.
Drawing from his expertise as a former mayor, Gatchalian argued that corruption can’t be hidden from the chief of an company – saying it’s inconceivable for ghost tasks to get previous company secretaries.
“No secret escapes (an company) secretary. No secret stays hidden; all of it comes out ultimately. As secretary, he’s conscious of that as a result of he’s the company’s chief government,” Gatchalian mentioned.
He lamented that Bonoan did not act even when irregularities turned obvious.
“As quickly as he heard concerning the anomalies, he ought to have instigated reforms. If he can not cease it, he ought to have launched measures in order that issues might be clear, aboveboard, and there must be third-party evaluation if he thinks there are discrepancies throughout the company,” he mentioned.
“We didn’t see something like that – it appeared like issues have been simply left as they have been,” the senator added.
He mentioned Bonoan ought to take cue from the actions of President Marcos himself, who selected to have the Division of Financial system, Planning, and Growth lead the investigation on ghost tasks and never the DPWH.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who bared “evident” acts of alleged graft and corruption in flood management tasks final week, mentioned the federal government’s marketing campaign towards substandard and ghost flood management tasks would solely succeed if it ends with the conviction and imprisonment of these accountable, particularly high-ranking officers.
