House panel subpoenas 5 contractors over flood control project irregularities

A joint House panel has subpoenaed five contractors for failing to appear at a congressional inquiry into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.

These five companies are among the 15 firms identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as having received a significant portion of the government's P545.64 billion flood control projects, accounting for P100 billion.

The subpoenaed contractors include Alpha and Omega General Contractor and Development Corporation and St. Timothy Construction Corporation, both owned by Sarah Discaya, as well as Royal Crown Monarch Construction and Supplies Corporation, SYMS Construction Trading, and Wawao Builders Corporation.

Discaya attended a parallel Senate investigation the day before but skipped the House probe, as did Wawao Builders general manager Mark Allan Arevalo.

The inquiry, led by the Committees on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways, and Good Government and Public Accountability, will initially focus on a P55 million project for a nonexistent river wall in Baliwag, Bulacan.

Representative Terry Ridon stated that evidence has been gathered to build cases against officials from the DPWH 1st District Engineering Office and Syms Construction Trading concerning the alleged 'ghost project'.