21/08/2026
BULACAN HAS ₱1-BILLION CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS AND YET STILL DROWNING
WHERE WAS THE INTELLIGENCE?
This is the question that Gov. Fernando and Vice Gov. Alex Castro can no longer simply brush aside. Simula nung umupo sa Bulacan Capitol ang Daniel-Alex tandem nagkaron ng ₱200-M Confidential Funds sa Provincial Budget.
From 2022 to 2026, the Provincial Government of Bulacan has appropriated ₱200 MILLION A YEAR in Confidential Funds for the Office of the Governor.
That is ₱1 BILLION in five years.
ONE BILLION PESOS.
And now Bulacan is drowning.
This is no longer merely a question of whether Gov. Fernando personally controlled the national DPWH flood-control budget.
Nobody is saying he did.
The far more important question is this:
WHAT WAS THE ₱1 BILLION IN CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS SUPPOSED TO ACCOMPLISH?
Confidential funds exist for legitimate and lawful intelligence and confidential activities. They are not ordinary discretionary funds that a public official can simply spend without accountability.
So let us connect the dots.
The Senate and congressional investigations into the flood-control scandal have exposed allegations of ghost, nonexistent, substandard and overpriced projects in BULACAN.
Former DPWH District Engr. Henry Alcantara himself admitted negligence after signing off on a ₱55.7-million project that was later identified as a ghost project The Pandi ghost project involving ex-senator B**g Revilla is another. Former DE Brice Hernandez also admitted that 20 to 30 percent were given to congressmen in almost all projects in Bulacan's DPWH 1st Engineering District.
And these allegations do not concern projects in Batanes, Basilan or remote barangay in Morong, Bataan.
They concern FLOOD-CONTROL PROJECTS IN BULACAN.
Projects supposedly designed to protect Bulakenyos.
Projects implemented within the PROVINCE. of Bulacan.
Projects involving billions of pesos, as Ted Failon's Radyo SINGKO research team said totals ₱41,358,694. 00 or ₱41-B.
41 BILLION Gob!
41 BILLION Vice Gob!
Projects whose alleged irregularities should have been a matter of the highest concern to provincial leadership.
Yet Gov. Fernando has publicly said he had no knowledge of the reported ₱41 BILLION in flood-control allocations for Bulacan.
Then comes the unavoidable question:
IF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HAD ₱200 MILLION A YEAR IN CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS, WHERE WAS THE INTELLIGENCE?
Where was the information-gathering?
Where was the monitoring?
Where was the early warning?
Where was the vigilance?
Where was the effort to find out whether flood-control projects were actually being constructed, properly implemented and protecting Bulakenyos?
The DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office is not hidden somewhere in Bataan peninsula.
It is only a few kilometers from the Provincial Capitol. Nasa kahabaan lang ng McArthur Highway sa Brgy. Tikay, Malolos, madadaanan tuwing Lunes kapag araw ng pasok ni Gov. Daniel.
Yet alleged irregularities in flood-control projects were allowed to develop to such an extent that they eventually became the subject of Senate and congressional investigations.
That creates a disturbing GOVERNANCE QUESTION.
If the ₱1 BILLION was lawfully and effectively used for legitimate confidential and intelligence activities, then the public has the right to ask:
WHAT DID THAT INTELLIGENCE PRODUCE?
If information was gathered, what threats to the people of Bulacan were detected?
What anomalies were reported?
What preventive action was taken?
And if the confidential funds were NOT used to gather intelligence capable of detecting major threats and irregularities affecting the province, then another question arises:
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF ₱200-M CONFI FUNDS SINCE 2022 NOW TOTALLING ₱1 BILLION? WHY WAS IT APPROPRIATED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
This is where the issue potentially moves beyond mere political incompetence and into a matter deserving of formal legal and financial scrutiny.
I am NOT declaring Gov. Fernando or Vice Gov. Castro criminally liable.
That determination belongs to the Commission on Audit, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Ombudsman, prosecutors and ultimately the courts.
But journalism has a duty to ask questions when public money is involved.
And ₱1 BILLION IS NOT A SMALL QUESTION.
It is public money.
It is the taxpayers' money.
It demands an accounting.
It demands an audit.
It demands an explanation.
And Vice Gov. Alex Castro cannot simply stand outside this issue.
As presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, he is part of the provincial leadership structure that approved and operated the provincial budget.
Therefore, the people have every right to ask:
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ₱200 MILLION ANNUAL CONFIDENTIAL FUND?
DID YOU ASK HOW IT WAS BEING USED?
DID YOU ASK WHAT INTELLIGENCE IT WAS PRODUCING?
DID YOU ASK WHY MAJOR FLOOD-CONTROL IRREGULARITIES WERE NOT DETECTED?
AND IF YOU DID ASK — WHERE ARE THE ANSWERS?
Because today, Bulacan has a tragic contradiction:
BILLIONS were supposedly poured into flood-control projects.
₱1 BILLION was supposedly made available for confidential purposes over five years.
And yet BULACAN IS STILL DROWNING.
This is why the words of blogger B**g Padua resonate so strongly:
“When Bulacan is drowning, ‘I DON’T KNOW’ IS NOT ENOUGH.”
Indeed.
“I DON'T KNOW” should be the BEGINNING of an INVESTIGATION, not the end of the conversation.
If Gov. Fernando genuinely did not know about the alleged flood-control anomalies, then he should be demanding to know WHY his government did not know.
If DPWH failed to coordinate with the province, then he should demand an explanation.
If confidential intelligence operations were conducted properly, then the results should be capable of withstanding the scrutiny of COA and the proper oversight authorities, subject to the lawful confidentiality rules governing such funds.
And if there were failures, the public deserves to know who failed, how they failed and why.
Because there is a profound difference between:
“I DON'T KNOW.”
and
“I DIDN'T KNOW — SO I ORDERED AN INVESTIGATION.”
The first is helplessness.
The second is leadership.
And this is exactly where the great statesmen of BULACAN — Blas F. Ople and Teodulo C. NATIVIDAD — would have demanded answers.
They would have asked:
ONE BILLION PESOS?
WHERE IS THE INTELLIGENCE?
WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY?
WHERE IS THE PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE?
Bulacan does not need leaders who merely explain why they did not know.
Bulacan needs leaders who make it their business to KNOW.
And if ₱1 BILLION in confidential funds was appropriated supposedly to support legitimate confidential and intelligence activities, then the people of Bulacan have every right to demand:
SHOW US THAT IT SERVED THE PEOPLE.
Because while the accounting of confidential funds may have legitimate legal limits, ACCOUNTABILITY HAS NONE.
And while the floodwaters may eventually recede, the question will remain:
WHERE DID THE ₱1 BILLION GO?
WHAT DID IT ACCOMPLISH?
AND WHY, despite all that money and all that power, IS BULACAN STILL DROWNING?
MetroNEWS BULACAN
WHEN BULACAN IS DROWNING, "I DON'T KNOW" IS NOT ENOUGH
Bulacan is drowning, its residents are hurting and families are being forced from their homes by floodwaters.
Against that backdrop, Gov. Daniel Fernando’s statement that he has no knowledge of the reported ₱41 billion in flood-control funds supposedly allocated to Bulacan over four years is deeply troubling.
Perhaps the governor does not control the Department of Public Works and Highways budget. Perhaps DPWH officials truly failed to coordinate with the provincial government.
But that does not erase the governor’s responsibility to ask questions.
If billions of pesos were allocated for flood-control projects in his province, the governor should know where those projects are, how much they cost, whether they were completed and, most importantly, whether they are actually protecting Bulakenyos from floods.
Instead, the public heard: “I don’t know.”
That answer becomes even harder to accept when communities across Bulacan are once again suffering from severe flooding.
Residents do not need excuses. They need answers.
Where did the money go?
Which projects were completed?
Who implemented them?
Were they properly inspected?
And why, after billions were supposedly spent, are so many Bulakenyos still fighting floodwaters?
If DPWH really bypassed the provincial government, then Fernando should demand an explanation. If the projects were properly implemented, then he should demand proof that they worked.
A governor cannot be expected to personally supervise every national government project. But he can — and should — demand transparency when billions are being spent in his province.
When Bulacan is drowning, “I don’t know” cannot be the final answer. It should be the beginning of an investigation.
Bulakenyos deserve nothing less.
