HOUSE LEADERS ON PROJECTS WITH MISSING DOCUMENTS, FAULTY GEOTAGS: ‘PAG KULANG, TANGGAL’

“Pag kulang, tanggal,” Appropriations Vice Chairperson and Camarines Sur 4th District Rep. Arnie B. Fuentebella said at a press briefing, describing the House leadership’s position on the issue.

FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list Rep. Brian Poe said the same standard should apply to projects without the necessary paperwork and to those with location data that cannot be verified.

“No papers, no geo-tag or maling geo-tag, pagdating sa bicam, tanggal,” Poe said.

“We will not accept projects that have no proper papers, proper coordinates because that is unfair to the constituents, and that is also unfair to the representatives who have been working so hard to make sure that the people get the right kind of projects, especially in this budget.”

The lawmakers were responding to a question about reported concerns over the documentation of 355 infrastructure projects worth about P6 billion.

House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson and Bataan 2nd District Rep. Albert Raymond S. Garcia asked for the specific project entries so the House could check them with the agencies concerned.

“Itong ating mga projects na in-identify, lahat po ito from the executive, whether it’s Department of Agriculture, DPWH, NIA, DAR, lahat po ito may proper documentation. So to be fair and we’re open to critics, ano po yung mga projects na ito para macheck po natin mismo kung may kakulangan,” said Garcia.

“At kung may kakulangan, let us rectify. Kasi ang hirap, ilan, 6,000 projects? Ang hirap ng sweeping… so sana let’s be, yung palagi ko sinasabi from the start, let’s be specific.”