Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Insurance Commission will ensure that the government will retrieve part of the public funds wasted from anomalous flood control projects through insurance bonds.
Dizon made this statement as the DPWH and Insurance Commission signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to expedite the retrieval of insurance claims in every ‘ghost’ and substandard project, which may take up 30% of the whole project cost.
‘Being jailed is not enough. The stolen money used to buy sports cars, gamble in casinos, and buy luxurious items must be returned,’ Dizon said in his speech during the signing of the MOA.
‘And this will be done with the Insurance Commission,’ Dizon added. Dizon recently revealed that 421 out of 8,000 inspected flood control works nationwide were found to be ‘ghost projects.’ He added that the figure is just the ‘initial phase’ as hundreds of projects still need to be validated.
He noted that the ‘ghost’ projects are scattered across the country, with a significant number found in Luzon. He also said that the contractors involved in these projects are under investigation. With this, Dizon called on the insurance companies to voluntarily return to the government the claims from anomalous projects. ‘Commissioner Rey and I are calling on them to voluntarily do it. Don’t let us take this to the court,’ Dizon said.
Dizon issued a stern warning if the firms refuse to return the insurance bonds, saying that: ‘We will have no choice.’
Further, IC Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado said that the Insurance Commission is responsible for ensuring that insurance instruments are not used to tolerate corruption. ‘By aligning our systems and sharing critical information, we aim to close the gaps that allow anomalies and corruption to persist,’ Regalado said in his speech at the same MOA signing.