Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol slammed Vice President Leni Robredo for accusing the river dredging project he proposed to the President would be prone to corruption.
On January 6, Robredo said on her radio program that she was told before the river dredging project is an easy way to corrupt public funds because it’s hard to find if the project like that is finished or not.
“Iyong pagpalalim ng… Hindi mo nakikita kasi nasa ilalim siya ng tubig,” she said on her “Biserbisyong Leni” show over RMN.
However, Piñol didn’t like the short explanation of Robredo, saying that the Vice President only showed that she’s negative instead of thinking about the many benefits of the river dredging project.
He described the Vice President as narrow-minded for not willing to take the risk for the benefits of the people.
“The dredging of the rivers, I told President Duterte, would open up hundreds of thousands of rich and fertile areas to agriculture with the added benefit of excavating peat soil from the river beds which could be used to enrich the soil in the nearby farms. Vice President Robredo’s reaction, however, left me dumbfounded and wondering what other options should be considered,” Pinol said in his post.
“By giving more weight on the possibility of corruption instead of the benefits that the dredging of the rivers will bring, Vice President Robredo has exposed a narrow-minded perspective of how government should work and operate,” he added.
The Agriculture Secretary also said that the funds in the project would not be corrupted if the people that would handle it are not corrupt people.
“The fear of corruption, however, should not tie our hands and prevent us from taking risks as government servants. If this is the kind of mindset, our officials in government have, we will never be able to do anything or accomplish projects which would benefit our people.” Pinol said.
“So, the rivers should not be dredged because there could be corruption? The only other option is just to allow the floods to destroy crops and lives every year. If that is the mindset, let us just dismantle government so that there will be no corruption at all.” he added.
Source: Manny Pinol