Press Release
March 22, 2009

INFRA STIMULUS PACKAGE MIGHT GO NOWHERE

Senator Bong Revilla expressed apprehension that the government stimulus program intended for infrastructure projects might go nowhere unless the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) shapes up itself against graft and corruption.

This was the reaction of Revilla to Pulse Asia's recent survey where the DPWH was perceived as the most corrupt government agency.

According the senator, the thousands jobs that would be created from the infrastructure projects this year became a side-issue and was ignored by the public after the Pulse Asia survey came out.

He pointed out that even though there is a noble intention to help our recently displaced workers, there will still be doubts if the infrastructure fund will primarily go to the projects and not to the pockets of DPWH officials.

"To spur economic growth, the government aims to spend about P206 billion in infrastructure development this year. It might build a road to perdition if the perceived graft in the DPWH will not be effectively addressed," said Revilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works.

The lawmaker firmly believes the DPWH landed in the top list of corrupt agencies due to the World Bank Report scandal.

"The negative reputation of the department was already there when the present DPWH leadership arrived, but I think more efforts should be exerted to address the problem," he explained.

In a survey conducted last February by Pulse Asia, the DPWH is viewed as the most corrupt government agency while the Department of Education tops the list of least corrupt agencies.

"For 32% of Filipinos, the DPWH is the most corrupt agency of the Philippine government. In second place is the Philippine National Police (PNP) with 21% considering it as most corrupt. Essentially the same percentages (15% to 19%) cite the Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Education (DepEd), and Bureau of Customs (BOC)," it said.

In his capacity as chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works, Revilla vowed to continue fight graft and corruption in the DPWH. It could be recalled that some DPWH NCR officials were axed from their job due to Revilla's relentless monitoring and exposing of delayed projects in their jurisdictions, particularly the controversial Tullahan Bridge and the CAMANAVA Flood Control Project.

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