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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider All DPWH projects in Bulacan are substandard, Brice Hernandez tells Senate blue ribbon panel

All DPWH projects in Bulacan are substandard, Brice Hernandez tells Senate blue ribbon panel

Published Sep 23, 2025 12:32 pm  |  Updated Sep 23, 2025 02:33 pm

At A Glance

  • Brice Hernandez confessed this at the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the flood control project controversy.

All infrastructure projects in Bulacan, from 2019 up to the present, are substandard, dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez admitted on Tuesday, September 23.

Former Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez (Mark Balmores)
Former Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez (Mark Balmores)

Hernandez, who was cited in contempt by the Senate, confessed this at the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the flood control project controversy.

The ex-DPWH official was responding to Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV when the senator asked if the projects in Bulacan from 2019 up to present (2025) were substandard due to corruption.

“We’re investigating flood control, ngayon inaamin lahat ng proyekto, pati classroom, pati hospital, pati tulay, pati kalsada, lahat substandard (now you are saying that projects, including classrooms, hospitals, bridges, even roads, are all substandard)?” Aquino asked Hernandez.

“Yes po, your honor,” Hernandez said, adding that even streetlights were overpriced.

Hernandez said they were forced not to follow specifications or meet quality standards in order to meet their “obligations” to officials and personalities who demanded a cut from the project budget.

“May plano ang DPWH, mayroong budget iyan. Pero dahil iyong budget pinaghahati-hatian niyo, sa dulo walang project na maayos na dumaan sa inyo (DPWH has a plan, it has a budget. But because you are dividing the budget, in the end no project goes smoothly through you,” Aquino asked Hernandez, who responded in the affirmative.

“Wala pong tumama kung ano iyong naka-specify sa plano. Hindi po na-meet lahat iyon, (Nothing matched whatever was specified in the plan. Not all of that was met,” Hernandez told Aquino, specifying the dates from 2019 to 2025.

“Lahat iyan, may porsiyentuhan (All of that have had a kickback?” the lawmaker asked, to which Hernandez responded: “Lahat po (Everything), your honor.”

Related Tags

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Senate probe flood control probe brice hernandez Bam Aquino
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