DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan*
“You should be ashamed, resign now”.
That was the call of Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Sec. Manuel Bonoan on Wednesday, August 20.
Benitez issued the call in a post on his Facebook page after an inspection of a Bulacan flood control project revealed that a project marked completed by the DPWH had yet to be constructed.
Following this discovery, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said he was “very angry” after seeing that the P55-million river wall project in Bgy. Piel, Baliuag, Bulacan was virtually nonexistent, Benitez said
“The principle of command responsibility demands that the secretary step down”, Benitez said.
“If something as basic as this has been overlooked, who knows how many more critical projects are in a similar state,” he said.
Benitez pointed out that “this poses a danger to communities who depend on these projects to keep them safe.”
“As the President said in his SONA: Shame on you. The DPWH secretary should resign now”, Benitez said.
Whoever takes over from Bonoan, said Benitez, should continue the comprehensive audit of all flood control projects and identify questionable and substandard structures.
Based on DPWH documents, the 220 meter-structure in Baliuag was supposed to begin last February. Records also showed the project was fully paid, but there was no evidence that work on the project had already begun, Benitez said.*