GENUINE Opposition (GO) candidate Sen.
Panfilo Lacson said he will call for an investigation of a
multi-million development initiative involving a modern port and
a river-dredging project which failed to save Bicol from the
wrath of typhoons ‘Milenyo’ and ‘Reming’ because two officials
took kickbacks from the projects.
"When Milenyo and Reming lashed Bicol last
year, hindi naramdaman ng tao ang proyekto," Lacson said.
He added: "Pinagkakitaan na naman ito."
Lacson, citing reports reaching him, said the
two officials who pocketed the funds were an incumbent lawmaker
and a former lawmaker-turned-cabinet member of the Arroyo
government.
Among the incumbent lawmakers who hogged the
headlines during the Bicol relief effort were Representatives
Edcel Lagman and Luis Villafuerte while the cabinet now has at
least two former Bicol lawmakers, Presidential chief of staff
Joey Salceda and Budget chief Rolando Andaya Jr.
Lacson, who met with local folks in Bicol who
told him about the matter, was referring to the P200-million
Pantao regional port project in the third district of Albay
province, one of the areas in Bicol hardest hit by the typhoons,
and to the multimillion river-dredging project that was supposed
to declog the entire river system of Bicol to avert floodings.
He said the Pantao port, which was
inaugurated by President Arroyo, was washed away at the height
of the killer typhoons while the P50-million access road linking
the port to the city proper was "pulverized."
He said the river-dredging project was funded
from the Office of the President and was supposed to have been
completed before the typhoon struck.
Lacson said the project should have prevented
siltation but the river system still overflowed during the
typhoons. He said the worse part was government blamed the two
killer typhoons to explain why residents have yet to feel the
benefits of the two projects.
"Like vultures feeding on carcasses, some
officials may have victimized Bicol residents twice over by
benefiting from proceeds of at least two multimillion-peso
development projects," Lacson said.
He said he intends to call a Senate investigation on the two
development projects when Senate convenes. – Dennis Gadil
