MANILA – Oriental Mindoro 1st District’s Cong. Arnan Panaligan has pushed back against insinuations linking him to defective flood control projects flagged in the Senate, stressing that lawmakers neither propose nor implement such undertakings, which fall squarely under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“Well, of course, it seems that the summary of his allegations is that we are proponents of the damaged flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro, particularly at the town of Naujan, that we are the proponents, that we funded it. But I just want to clarify that the proponent is no other than the DPWH,” Panaligan said.
The congressman explained that the flood control projects cited in Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s privilege speech were already listed in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) prepared by the executive branch before being transmitted to Congress.
“These projects are already included in the [NEP] which is received by Congress, coming from the executive department for Congress to tackle. And it is stated in the NEP, the flood control projects for the towns of Naujan, Baco, and other areas are itemized, so we did not propose that,” he added.
Panaligan emphasized that Congress’ role is limited to passing the General Appropriations Act, not in fund releases or project implementation.
“Now they will say that we financed it, technically they will say that Congress did it because Congress approved the budget… But the reality is that the actual practice is that the listing, identification, and prioritization of flood control projects come from the DPWH,” he said.
Lacson, in his speech, did not name Panaligan but flashed a screenshot of the lawmaker’s Facebook post highlighting flood control accomplishments in his district.
Countering this, Panaligan said all planning, contracting, and program-of-works preparation were handled by DPWH’s regional and national offices.
“The implementor is no other than the Regional Office and DPWH. The congressman also has no role in creating the program of works… That is the exclusive authority of DPWH,” he explained.
“Many think that because Congress approves the budget, Congress is the one doing the financing. In theory that’s true, but in reality the items like flood control projects are specified at the NEP and cannot be changed,” he added./PN
