DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 December) — Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte has refused an invitation to appear at the investigation conducted by the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI), asserting that the fact-finding body has no power or jurisdiction over him.
In a letter to ICI Chairman Andres B. Reyes, Jr., dated December 3 but released to the media on Thursday, Duterte stated that he welcomes the investigation into flood control projects in his district, but cited several reasons for declining to participate in the ongoing proceedings.
Duterte said the creation of ICI was a “tool for pure political propaganda” of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to “weaken, or worse, destroy the name of Vice President Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, and our Duterte family’s good name.”
“It is continuing political propaganda and harassment against our family with a view to the 2028 Presidential, national, and local elections,” he said.
He said the revelations by former Ako Bicol Party-list member Zaldy Co, implicating Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez in the controversial flood control projects, should be investigated by the fact-finding body, particularly those flood control and infrastructure projects in Ilocos and Eastern Visayas.
He said the ICI was created by “President Marcos to save himself, his family, ex-Speaker Romualdez and his ilks, and provide a diversion cover-up for their misdeeds.”
“To use me and my sister, VP Sara, to diver the truth, passing the blame, and mislead the Filipino people is highly unacceptable and deplorable,” he added.
As a member of the House of Representatives, Duterte invoked the principle of the Separation of Powers, which he said bars the fact-finding body from including him in its probe.
He maintained that since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. created the ICI through Executive Order No. 94, its authority is “purely limited to the executive branch.”
Duterte also argued that the fact-finding body’s invitation lacks “factual and legal bases,” describing it as “vague and ambiguous, absent any particulars or details of matters in the possession of ICI.”
The lawmaker believed that he was also incompetent to appear before the ICI to answer their queries, as he was not a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee of the Lower House from 2019 to 2022.
Duterte, however, has been part of the House of Representatives since 2019. Before he was elected representative of Davao’s 1st Congressional District, Duterte served as barangay chair of Catalunan Grande from 2007 to 2013 and as vice mayor from 2013 until his resignation on December 25, 2017.
His resignation came months after he and lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, were implicated in a ₱6.4-billion shabu shipment from China that was discovered inside five metal cylinders in Valenzuela City.
He said the ICI can “rightfully secure any information or document” from the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Information and Communication, Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, Department of Trade and Industry, and other relevant agencies.
On November 6, ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio, House Deputy Minority Leader, revealed serious irregularities in flood control projects implemented along the Davao and Matina Rivers from 2019 to 2022, within the city’s 1st Congressional District, based on data from DPWH and budget documents.
He reported that out of a partial dataset of 121 flood control contracts worth ₱6.06 billion along the two rivers, 80 contracts worth ₱4.35 billion exhibit serious red flags.
The investigation, Tinio said, found that of the 121 flood control projects, 79 projects worth ₱4.07 billion were congressional insertions not included in the original National Expenditure Program.
He also noted that 54 out of 68 implemented projects worth ₱2.65 billion along the Davao River had been red-flagged, while 26 out of 28 projects worth ₱1.70 billion along the Matina River exhibited irregularities.
According to Tinio, the contractors repeatedly appearing in flagged projects are Rely Construction & Supply Inc., Legacy Construction Corporation, Abu Construction, St. Timothy Construction and Alpha and Omega Construction (the firms linked to government contractors Curlee and his wife, Sarah, along with Alfrego Builders, the firm of Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go’s half-brother Alfredo Go, in joint venture with Rely Construction), and Genesis88.
Tinio said that the red flags warranted a thorough investigation of all flood control and other public infrastructure projects in Davao. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
