Raffy Tulfo wants Senate inquiry into alleged corruption at NIA

Senator Raffy Tulfo is seeking a Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigation into the alleged corruption in the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) which led to unfinished infrastructure projects.

In a privilege speech Tuesday, Tulfo said that there was a P121-billion allocated budget for NIA from 2019 to 2022.  However, there are allegedly infrastructure projects that have yet to be completed and some construction that has yet to start even with notices to proceed.

He then mentioned the alleged awarding of contracts that did not undergo proper public bidding.

“This is an undeniable red flag of institutional corruption. We give these contractors the people’s tax money and they just give us falsified reports of their accomplishment,” Tulfo said.

GMA News Online has sought comment from National Irrigation Administration chief Eduardo Guillen and will publish the NIA's side once it is available.

According to Tulfo, some documents were sent to his office which showed that NIA was given by its contractors an accomplishment report which is far from the real status of the project.

He said at least four contractors were allegedly awarded different contacts by NIA even if they have a record of not completing their projects.

Several “blacklisted contractors still received projects from NIA after they changed their company name, Tulfo said.

Apart from “failed and uncompleted projects,” Tulfo said NIA also has ghost projects in Mindanao which amount to around P890 million.

"There appears to be a wide-scale corruption scheme that has persisted for far too long,” he added.

As the budget season is approaching, Tulfo urged his colleagues to support his call to investigate NIA.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate must study if these projects were implemented and how they were implemented before they tackle the national budget for 2024.

“Maybe we can add an agency within the Senate to look into the matter wherein magpadala tayo ng tracker teams para makita kung ito bang projects na ito ay natutupad, nako-construct or guniguni po natin at nawala na ang pera,” Zubiri said.

“ I am willing to take it a step further if our colleagues will agree then maybe we can ask some of our staff to come up with an office, like a small office to help our [Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office] to assist us when we pass the budget na meron tayong konting accountability, particularly with these agencies with questions of corruption,” he added. —NB, GMA Integrated News