THE Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives called for the scrutiny of all flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that are costing P1 billion per day.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas made the call as despite the allocation of P349,332,963,000 for flood control projects, flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces worsened after super typhoon Carina.
“Billions of pesos are supposedly allocated for flood control projects, but every year, people suffer from continuous flooding during the rainy season. The public needs to know where this money is going,” Brosas said.
According to the data released by ACT party-list Rep. France Castro, P71,190,002,000 was allocated in the 2024 general appropriations act (GAA) for DPWH Convergence and Special Support Program (SIPAG) Flood Mitigation Structures protecting Public Infrastructure/Facilities. There is also P144,040,506,000 for Flood Management Program Construction/Maintenance of Flood Mitigation Structures and Drainage Systems; P100,537,405,000 for Flood Management Program Construction/Rehabilitation of Flood Mitigation Facilities with Major River Basins and Principal Rivers; P33,565,050,000 for Convergence and Special Support Program; and P100,537,405,000 for Flood Management Program Construction/Rehabilitation of Flood Mitigation Facilities with Major River Basins and Principal Rivers. “This does not include foreign-assisted projects supposedly for flood mitigation, but it already totals to P349,332,963,000 or P957,076,610.9589 per day of flood control funds. That is almost P1 billion of funds a day, but they failed catastrophically to do their jobs,” Castro said.
Because of this, they will allegedly scrutinize the DPWH budget for the next year when the budget hearings begin and insisted that someone should be held accountable for the ongoing flooding even though almost P1 billion are being spent on it daily.
“This needs to be thoroughly scrutinized. They are wasting the people’s money and yet such failures are happening. Where are the over 5,500 flood control projects that Pres. Marcos Jr. boasted about in his SONA? It’s like Super Typhoon Carina fact-checked Marcos. This should not happen again, and someone should be held accountable for the disaster that occurred,” Castro added.
