MANILA — Davao City 1st District’s Cong. Paolo “Polong” Duterte on Tuesday defended billions worth of flood control and infrastructure projects in Davao City while accusing House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of waging a politically motivated attack against the Duterte family through a complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The heated exchange came after Tinio sought an investigation into alleged irregularities involving up to P4.4 billion worth of flood control projects implemented in Davao City’s 1st District from 2019 to 2022 under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), citing supposed overlapping contracts, double funding, incomplete works, and missing project specifications.
In a statement, Duterte questioned why Tinio was allegedly focusing only on Davao City while supposedly ignoring larger national controversies.
“It is deeply ironic that Antonio Tinio now wants to parade himself as a crusader against corruption and flooding issues in Davao City, when the entire country is currently witnessing what many are calling the biggest corruption controversy in Philippine history unfolding under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his son Sandro Marcos, and cousin Martin Romualdez,” Duterte said.
In the complaint filed Tuesday, Tinio identified Genesis 88 Construction as among the biggest contractors involved in the questioned projects.
“Why is Mr. Tinio selectively blind?” Duterte said. “Why is he not filing complaints against the engineers, contractors, and political personalities linked to questionable flood control projects nationwide?”
Tinio’s complaint specifically mentioned businessman Glenn Escandor, owner of Genesis 88 Construction and former sports adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Tinio alleged that Genesis 88 received 10 contracts amounting to P713 million.
Duterte, however, defended the infrastructure developments in Davao City, saying DPWH Region XI records showed nearly P49.84 billion worth of completed infrastructure projects from 2020 to 2022.
“These include roads, drainage systems, bridges, and other public works that Dabawenyos continue to benefit from today. And for the information of the public, Davao City has been zero budget for four years now,” Duterte said.
The lawmaker also accused Tinio of exploiting the issue to attack the Duterte family politically.
“But instead of acknowledging actual infrastructure accomplishments, ‘Tontong Tinio’ appears more interested in recycling troll narratives and politically motivated accusations meant to demonize the Duterte family,” he added.
Duterte further criticized the ACT Teachers party-list representative for allegedly neglecting education-related concerns.
“ACT Teachers was supposed to fight for educators, classrooms, salaries, and the future of Filipino students. Instead, Tinio has become a full-time anti-Duterte political operator whose press conferences now outnumber his actual initiatives for teachers,” Duterte said.
The Davao congressman also stressed that flooding is a nationwide problem requiring long-term engineering interventions rather than political theatrics.
“Flooding is a national problem requiring serious engineering, long-term planning, and cooperation among agencies — not grandstanding before cameras and carrying stacks of folders to create headlines,” Duterte said. “Filipinos are intelligent enough to distinguish genuine public service from political theater.”/PN
