By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
As recent widespread floods brought by the southwest monsoon (habagat) rekindled discussions about the administration’s response to ‘ghost’ and anomalous flood control projects, the government maintains a position anchored on holding those behind this dilemma accountable.
This, on top of Malacañang’s campaign to combat misinformation related to such pressing national issues with facts sourced straight from concerned government agencies.
It was in line with this agenda that Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro dismissed the pronouncements of former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, who tagged the agency’s Convergence and Special Support Program (CSSP) among the components that comprised the flood control mess.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Usec. Castro warned against making such inferences without providing ample evidence to substantiate and add credibility to these claims.
She told the media, “Dahil po ’yan ay kanyang opinyon lamang, pero wala pa siyang hawak na basehan para sabihin na yung CSSP ay pang-scam, hindi po siya nakakabuti sa [mga] proyekto ng gobyerno.”
Malacañang’s mouthpiece went on to read a statement from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which provides a comprehensive overview of the CSSP.
DBM explained that the CSSP dates back to government records as early as 2012, particularly focusing on the DOT-DPWH Convergence Program, which included the following projects and national priorities, among many others:
- Access roads
- Airports
- Agriculture
- Education
- Industries
- Health
- National security
- Seaports
The statement expounded, “Recurrent CSSP is therefore an umbrella program covering different types of infrastructure projects, not a single discretionary fund.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Alleviating Gaps (SIPAG), as well as the Basic Infrastructure Program (BIP), have likewise been launched under this program.”
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