DPWH Flagged For Spending P10.3B “Contigency” Fund For Projects Like “Batcave”
DPWH BATCAVE – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was flagged for allegedly using P10.3 billion on projects such as a “batcave”.
During the House of Appropriations Committee hearing on the DPWH’s budget, Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite questioned the department’s use of its “contingency funds”. According to an article from ABS-CBN, he asked:
Ano yung mga proyekto na pinaggamitan? Because according to our former Cong. Chair Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna based on the listings of the projects, apparently there were sports facilities, swimming pools, cruise sport, convention center, museum, and I don’t know what is a batcave, were the products of the P10 billion
As a response, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said that his department would follow up a list of projects paid for by the contingency fund. Following this, Gaite said that the projects do not meet the criteria for urgency”.
Due to this, he highlighted that the projects included raised “many questions“. Along with this, he noted that the contingent fund cannot legally be used for such projects.
Additionally, the list of expenditures for the P10.3 billion fund included certain items such as swimming pools, cruise sports, and a “batcave“. However, Villar emphasized that the DPWH is not liable to answer the questions directed at them.
He explained that the funds they had were within the Office of the President. Moreover, he stressed that the DPWH is not a funding agency and that they only declare savings.
“We do not control how the funding is used. We declare savings and the projects that are downloaded to us, we implement it“, he said.
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