Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- Romualdez liable in flood control mess – Senate minority 'report' - Bong Revilla to be detained at Quezon City Jail over flood - DPWH officials say Leviste took soft copies of ‘Cabral files’ by force - Senators flag DPWH’s ‘contractor-friendly’ budget preparation process - Bernardo explains how budget sponsors decide who implements public works
00:06The Senate Minority Block releases a report saying Martin Romualdez was either complicit with the crooks or grossly negligent.
00:19Former Senator Bong Revilla will be detained at the Quezon City Jail for alleged involvement in a ghost flood control project in Bulacan.
00:25The DPWH claims Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste forcibly took soft copies of the Cabral files.
00:33A Senate probe finds the infrastructure budget process favors contractors.
00:37And former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo says politician proponents decide who implements a Public Works project.
00:45Senate Minority Members say former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was quote,
00:50either complicit with the crooks or was grossly negligent in his job.
00:53In a report, they note that Romualdez remains liable either way.
00:57The minority members, composed of Senators Aimee Marcos, Rodante Marcoleta, Bato De La Rosa,
01:02Jingoy Estrada, Bong Goh, Robin Padilla, Cheese Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Joel Villanueva,
01:08say Romualdez cannot absolve himself from the flood control projects.
01:12They note how the former House Speaker and resigned Congressman Zaldi Coe were named in several testimonies during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings.
01:19Marcoleta initially drafted the report based on the first two flood control corruption hearings he led.
01:24But Senate President Tito Soto describes the document as a piece of paper since the Blue Ribbon Panel has yet to submit its official report.
01:31Romualdez's cousin, Sen. Aimee Marcos, also notes,
01:34an attorney, Paras, and other associates appear in documents of the former Speaker's properties abroad.
01:39Rappler earlier reported Golden Pheasant Holdings, owned by Jose Raulito Paras, a close associate of Romualdez,
01:45bought a house in Forbes Park, Makati for about 1.67 billion pesos.
01:50Rappler also reported a multi-million euro property in Soto Grande, an exclusive area in Spain,
01:55was bought by a company linked to Romualdez's associates, including Paras.
02:00Former Senator Bong Revilla will be detained at the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas.
02:05This after an arrest warrant was issued for him and several others in connection with an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Bulacan.
02:12He is facing a non-vailable malversation case and a graft charge filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last week.
02:18Revilla earlier surrendered to the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame on Monday, January 19.
02:24Aside from Revilla, the warrant also covers former DPWH engineers Bryce Hernandez and JP Mendoza.
02:30They were also arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation at the Senate Monday evening.
02:34The arraignment for Revilla's malversation case is set on Friday, January 23.
02:41The Department of Public Works and Highway says Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste forcibly obtained soft copies of the Cabral files.
02:49DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee,
02:54the late former Undersecretary Kathy Cabral gave Leviste a hard copy of the allocation list per congressional district on September 4, 2025.
03:01Leviste released the files on Christmas Eve after Cabral's death.
03:05That was the report that the soft copies of the files in the computer were forcibly taken.
03:13However, upon the request of former Undersecretary Cabral and her staff,
03:20na huwag na pong palakihin yung issue.
03:22DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon denied authorizing the release of the files to Leviste.
03:27DPWH officials confirmed the authenticity of the allocation list per district but said the other files have yet to be verified.
03:34Meantime, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta questioned Leviste's credibility to testify on the Cabral files,
03:39saying the lawmaker was not involved in the preparation.
03:42A Senate investigation exposes how the budget process for government infrastructure projects appears to favor contractors.
03:50Sen. Ping Lakson describes it as contractor-friendly.
03:54This after Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian notes how the agency appeared to tailor the budget items
03:58in a way that would make it easier for contractors to meet requirements.
04:01Under a Department of Budget and Management circular, proposed DPWH projects are required to be shovel-ready
04:08with feasibility studies, location details, and secured rights-of-way.
04:12It's going to be a pond, rather than a pond to be a project.
04:17So it's just a place you submit to the DBM to be a pond.
04:23Gatchalian also flags how the coordinates for infrastructure projects indicated in the plan
04:28are changed during project implementation.
04:30Former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo describes a DPWH scheme
04:36where proponent lawmakers control who implements the public works.
04:41At a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Bernardo responds to Sen. J.V. Ejercito's question
04:45about the alleged buy-and-sell scheme of public works projects in the DPWH.
04:50The proponent asked, of course, the help of the regional directors and district engineers
04:55about projects to be released in their own districts or regions.
04:59Doon po nagsisimula yun. Kung sino yung nag-release, we respect po the authority of the ones who released the project.
05:07Sila po yung may karapatan sa proyekto. So ganoon po yung scheme nun.
05:11Ejercito also asks about the so-called allocable budget of the department, which has been flagged by critics as a new form of port barrel.
05:18Yung pong tinatawag naming allocable started in 2022 when the new secretary was having problems about the releases of each district.
05:28That started with the formula of Jose Cabral, wherein she considered yung mga factors po na magdedetermine po kung magkano talaga yung maririlis sa cada distrito.
05:38This formula is only known to the late undersecretary, Kathy Cabral.
05:42The allocable of the engineering district po, yung pong cada distrito, bibigyan po nito ng corresponding allocation sa NEP.
05:50And that will be the basis of submissions of every district or every region po.
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