Donate

KWEBA ni BAROK

They Built Dikes Out of Pancit Canton and Called It Infrastructure — Time for PD 1759 to Collect the Bill in Blood

Published by

Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

on

They Built Dikes Out of Pancit Canton and Called It Infrastructure — Time for PD 1759 to Collect the Bill in Blood
Presidential Decree No. 1759 just woke up hungry, and the menu is contractor à la life sentence

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — November 28, 2025

I. A Standing Ovation for the Man Who Just Handed Prosecutors a Bazooka

While the rest of the bar was busy drafting “strongly-worded” demand letters that end up as bird-cage liners, Atty. Emmanuel “Manny” Topacio quietly whispered one sentence that made every crooked contractor reach for their passports: “Use Presidential Decree No. 1759.” That, mga ka-kweba, is how you weaponize a 44-year-old Marcos-era relic into a heat-seeking missile.

II. Meet the Three-Headed Monster They Forgot Was Still Alive

Presidential Decree No. 1759 (1981) is not a statute. It is a death sentence wearing a toga:

  • 12 years to life imprisonment (non-bailable at the high end)
  • Perpetual absolute disqualification from public office AND government contracts
  • Personal liability to reconstruct the defective work — yes, with your own money

This is the legal equivalent of being buried alive, exhumed, shot again, and then billed for the coffin.

Cook time: 3 min in boiling water, 12-to-life in boiling evidence.

III. From “Flood-Control Projects” to “Flood-Causing Projects”: A Perfect Fit

The menu of horrors currently on Senate Blue Ribbon display:

  • 6-inch concrete slabs instead of the contractual 12
  • Rebar placed like lazy spaghetti
  • “Completed” pumping stations that exist only in Photoshop and in the imagination of the highest bidder
  • Dikes that collapse faster than a politician’s promise

These are not “technical deviations.” These are material violations of public-works contracts resulting in catastrophic prejudice to the government. In other words, PD 1759 was tailor-made for this circus of criminal incompetence.

IV. The Prosecutor’s Cheat-Code: How to Nail Them Before They Flee to Dubai

Real evidence, not Senate drama, wins convictions. Collect these tomorrow:

  1. The Sacred Texts – Bill of Quantities, Detailed Engineering Design, Technical Specifications (the ones they used as placemats)
  2. Forensic Proof That Doesn’t Lie – Independent core sampling, rebound hammer tests, ground-penetrating radar – Drone ortho-mosaics showing “as-built” vs. “as-paid-for”
  3. The Price of Betrayal – Rectification cost estimates from reputable engineering firms (₱10–₱20 billion is not theoretical damage — it’s the “prejudice” element in glowing neon)
  4. The Paper Trail of Permission – Variation orders signed after the concrete had already turned to mush – Emails that will live in infamy: “Sige na boss, approve na kahit kulang sa bakal”

That last one is called “consent or through abandonment or negligence permitting the violation.” Translation: game, set, life sentence.

V. Defense Lawyers’ Greatest Hits (And How to Smash the Record)

They will sing these tired lullabies. Be ready to boo:

  • “Within engineering tolerances!” → Show the lab report. Concrete candy floss is not a tolerance.
  • “Arias Doctrine! We just relied on subordinates!” → Arias dies when the same official signs 47 variation orders deleting half the rebar (see Supreme Court in Albert v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 221775, 6 Aug 2018).
  • “The project was completed!” → A ghost project is completed the moment the fake accomplishment report is notarized. A dike that kills people is not “completed”; it is homicide by contract.
  • “Prescription!” → Discovery rule + continuing crime doctrine + Senate exposures = clock still ticking.

VI. Bring the Entire Orchestra — Parallel Charges That Cannot Be Killed Together

File everything at once:

Different elements = no double-jeopardy problem. Maximum pain.

VII. Marching Orders Before the Next Typhoon Washes the Evidence Away

To the Office of the Ombudsman:

Stop treating this like another pork-barrel footnote. These are not ghost classrooms — these are ghost dikes that murder children.

  • Issue preservation orders on every project site today.
  • Commission independent forensic testing this week.
  • File the informations next month.

To the Sandiganbayan:

Lives are literally at stake. Expedite.

To the Filipino people:

Every time the water rises, remember who decided profit was thicker than concrete. PD 1759 is loaded, cocked, and pointed at their heads. All that remains is for someone to pull the trigger. Dura lex sed lex — and for once, the law has fangs.

Key Citations

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

Leave a comment

Hello,

I’m Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

Let’s connect

Join the fun!

Stay updated with our latest tutorials and ideas by joining our newsletter.

Recent posts