MANILA, โฃPhilippines – Two Philippine senators are facing allegations of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects, accusations they vehemently deny.โ The claims surfaced during a House inquiry led by former government engineer Rodolfo hernandez, who alleged that Senator Joel Estrada received a 30% kickbackโ fromโ 355 million pesos ($6.2 million) worth of projects,while Senatorโ Mark Villanueva allegedlyโ received 30% from โ600โข million pesosโ ($10.5โ million) in similar โขprojects, both occurring โin 2023 in the flood-prone province โof Bulacan.
Hernandez testified that the alleged kickbacks were delivered by government โdrivers, but provided no further details or supporting evidence.โ Estrada dismissed the allegations as a “big lie” and โchallenged Hernandez โฃto a public lie-detector โtest, stating,โข “I’m ready to prove that โhis allegations wereโ all lies.”โฃ Villanueva โขalsoโข denied the accusations in a Senate speech, asserting he possesses evidence โto prove his innocence and โstating, “I โขwill never ever destroy the โname that was given to meโข by my parents becauseโข it is priceless.”
The allegations come as โขtheโ Philippinesโ grapples with a climateโ crisis that exacerbates the โขimpact of โขtheโ roughly 20 typhoons and storms the country experiencesโค annually. recent back-to-backโข typhoons and monsoon rains in July triggered massive floods, affecting millions, displacing โฃoverโ 300,000, and causingโ dozens of deaths, primarilyโ among vulnerable populations.The unfolding inquiry followsโข President Ferdinand โคMarcos Jr.’s recent inspections of flood-prone areasโค and a government review of thousands of flood mitigation projects undertaken in the last three years, totalingโฃ an estimated 545โข billion pesos โค($9.6 billion).A website launched byโข the president to โsolicit public reports of irregularities has reportedly been overwhelmed with complaints. Defenseโ Secretaryโ Gilberto Teodoro, who heads the โขcountry’s disaster-response agency, has expressedโ support for the investigations.โ Hernandez’s testimony might potentially be linked to a contempt citationโค issuedโ by Estrada during a Senate inquiry on Monday regarding Hernandez’s โgambling habits.