00:00Each discovery of shoddily built or failed flood mitigation projects keep breaking the president's heart piece by piece.
00:08Structures that have mostly collapsed not so much by the materials on which they were built,
00:14but by the collective greed of lawmakers, politicians and vested interests in the bureaucracy
00:20who conspired to fleece government and the public of services they paid for and deserve.
00:26Our Kenneth Basiente has more.
01:00That is what former DPWH Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Bryce Hernandez revealed
01:05during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing yesterday,
01:09something that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. was dismayed about.
01:13How could it be that projects meant to bring mass relief result in the enrichment of only a few?
01:18Itong mga proyektong to ay para sa kalahatan, para sa ikagiginhawa ng mga kababayan natin,
01:25pero ang mga gumiginhawa ay yung mga tao lamang na siyang nagpapayaman.
01:30The palace also defended the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.
01:34Senator Rodante Marco let a question the independence of the commission, saying it relies on other government agencies.
01:41Malacanang insists, there is nothing wrong if the ICI gathers information from the Senate or the House of Representatives to help in its investigation.
01:49At saan ba sila kukuha ng mga impormasyon?
01:53Sa lahat na maaari nilang pagkakuhaan, you just cannot get evidence out of thin air.
02:01Magmungula rin ito sa mga dokumento mula sa gobyerno.
02:04Hindi lamang yun ang titignan ng ICI.
02:07Lahat ng anggulo na maaari nilang makuha para makumpletong ebidensya.
02:12On the issue of whether Diskaya should return ill-gotten wealth before becoming a state witness,
02:18the palace said that DOJ has the freedom to impose condition based on the Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act.
02:26To cooperate with respect to a reasonable request of officers and employees of the government who are providing protection under this Act.
02:36So in other words, malaya po na makapagbibigay ng mga reasonable requirements or mga kondisyon ang DOJ bago po ma-isama ang isang witness under the Witness Protection Program.
02:50In Curly Diskaya's statement during the hearing, he claimed that kickbacks in infra projects under the current administration rose to 25 to 30 percent.
02:58The palace responded that such revelation is nothing to be proud of.
03:02Adding this is precisely why the president ordered a wide-ranging investigation and wants those responsible to be held accountable.
03:10Kenneth Paciente from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
