Last week, construction firm owners and a former DPWH engineer implicated at least 28 lawmakers and government officials in the flood control scandal, saying that they would routinely demand cuts ranging from 10 to 25 per cent of earmarked funds.
The new body has the power to “conduct hearings, take testimony, and receive, gather, review, and evaluate evidence, reports, and information”, according to a Thursday executive order issued by the president.
It may also request that the funds and property of those believed connected to fraudulent flood control and infrastructure projects be seized or frozen, though it does not have the authority to take action on its own.
On Monday, former Philippine Senate president Francis Escudero was replaced by Vicente Sotto III amid ongoing investigations by both houses of Congress into the flood control scandal.
Escudero’s name was linked to one of the country’s top flood control project contractors, a revelation he called a “demolition job” aimed at removing him from the Senate’s top post.
The Department of Finance has estimated that the Philippine economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) from 2023 to 2025 due to corruption in flood control projects.
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