00:00Good afternoon, my distinguished colleagues, Mr. Senate President, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Erwin Tulpo.
00:10We reconvene today for the eighth public hearing on the motu proprio inquiry in aid of legislation and investigation into the flood control anomaly,
00:21even as we are already finalizing the partial committee report to be routed to your offices as early as next week.
00:31Contrary to the lies and obfuscations that naysayers are trying to spread around,
00:37your Blue Ribbon Committee has accomplished so much since the flood control scandal broke wide open in the middle of last year.
00:45Since then, waves of information have dominated the national discourse at every level of our society, local and national.
00:57Lest we be drowned out by the rising tide of noise here and there,
01:02allow me to run down how much ground we have covered in the course of the committee's seven public hearings.
01:09Since the Bulacan First District Engineering Office was exposed as the epicenter of the biggest corruption saga in recent history,
01:20your committee was able to hear and record the sworn testimonies of DPWH District Engineer Henry Alcantara,
01:30Assistant District Engineer Bryce Hernandez, JP Mendoza, and the rest of the so-called BGC Boys,
01:37and laid bare their collective splurging of billions of pesos in several casinos,
01:44made possible by their indispensable roles in a mafia-like scheme,
01:50not from extortion for protection activities involving business establishments,
01:56but through an elaborate conspiracy in siphoning funds from the country's national budget
02:02intended for flood control projects to protect lives and properties of Filipinos in low-lying areas.
02:10Then, there was former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.
02:17Your committee followed the money and paper trails through skillful research and questioning by our members,
02:23which revealed the deep web of in-house contracting, bid rigging, padded contract costs, and license renting.
02:33This scam was so systematic and brazen, resulting in substandard infrastructure and worse, ghost flood control projects.
02:43In the hearings that followed, the case of Bulacan proved to be a gateway,
02:49the microcosm of a much more complex and institutionalized plunder within the bureaucracy.
02:57Your committee became the stage for shocking and scathing revelations made by the key actors of the flood control scam.
03:06We conduct these hearings with such fairness and integrity that those with the truth felt motivated to come forward to testify,
03:17while others became tentative and unsure of which path to trek.
03:22Let me emphasize one point.
03:25We always go where the evidence leads us.
03:28We do not target any particular person, nor do we have the intention to cover up for anybody.
03:37Thus, we uncovered the top-to-bottom systemic misuse and abuse of public funds involving high officials in the executive and legislative branches,
03:49even the Commission on Audit.
03:51As of the latest count, at least P21.7 billion.
04:20P21.7 billion in bank accounts and other forms of assets are frozen upon written order by the Court of Appeals.
04:28May mga sumasa ilalim na rin sa Witness Protection Program ng DOJ upang tumulong palakasin ang mga ebidensya
04:36habang nangangako na magre-restitute ng napagkasundoang halaga sa ilalim ng mga pinirmahang memorandum of agreement with the WPP
04:47tungo sa logical conclusion ng mga klasong plunder, malversation of public funds through falsification,
04:56violations of antigraft laws at iba pang krimen.
04:59We laid out how this deeply rooted scheme operates with systemic precision.
05:06It involves a network of actors, namely the contractors group who collude amongst themselves to rig public biddings
05:16and monopolize flood control projects, key DPWH coordinators who manage project allocations
05:24and orchestrate the collection and delivery of kickbacks and intermediaries, agents or bugmen
05:31who receive these illicit funds allegedly in behalf of their principals.
05:36Naging daan din ang mga pagdinig ng kumite upang mabuklat ang usapin ng conflict of interest
05:44sa Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board or PICAB.
05:48We also flag blacklisted companies resurfacing under new names, the rampant practice of license renting
05:57and the awarding of billion-peso contracts to severely under-capitalized firms.
06:03Modesty aside, but significantly, your committee paved the way for the implementation of landmark transparency reforms
06:13in our national budget process.
06:16This includes our transition to live-streamed and open BICAM that detailed budget amendments, insertions if you like,
06:26that are now traceable to their proponents.
06:29Not to mention, stricter safeguards to ensure that no vague or undefined infrastructure projects
06:37are included in the General Appropriations Act.
06:41Let this serve as a warning to skeptics, detractors, and hijackers
06:47who exploit the vulnerabilities and anger of our people
06:52to deepen the fault lines of our nation during these trying times.
06:57Your noise will not silence the truth, neither does it provide any help in our investigation.
07:05Your noise cannot convict and won't even indict the malefactors in this flood-control mess.
07:11Only evidence does.
07:14The Blue Ribbon Committee is not only insensitive to its members, but an insult to our fellow Filipinos
07:27who have consistently followed and monitored our hearings and participated in the trillion-peso march.
07:33The clergy, students, ordinary workers, and all concerned citizens who became aware and exposed to unbridled and systemic corruption,
07:44mainly made possible by the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings,
07:48and the media who serve as a powerful tool in bringing to the households, eateries, barbershops, etc.
07:56The details of each and every hearing of your Blue Ribbon Committee.
08:02With all that being said, as the chairman of this committee, I say to you,
08:08shut the F up.
08:10Let us now resume our hearings.
08:37Let's see.
08:39SEAN Let's go.
08:42SEAN。
08:44SEAN.
08:46SEAN.
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