Marcos urges senators to combat graft in flood projects
BOATING ON STREET A man paddles his boat on a flooded street on July 31 in Calumpit, one of the towns in Bulacan province that were heavily inundated by rains triggered by Typhoon “Egay” (international name: Doksuri) and later by Tropical Storm “Falcon” (Khanun). —LYN RILLON
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has asked for help from senators in prosecuting individuals behind corruption-tainted and ineffective flood control public works projects following widespread flooding across many parts of Luzon brought by Typhoon “Egay” (international name: Doksuri), Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said on Friday.
The President made the request during a dinner which he hosted for the senators at Malacañang on Wednesday, Villanueva said.
Only the two opposition senators—Risa Hontiveros and Aquilino Pimentel III—did not attend the dinner.
“‘We should really file cases against those who must be held liable.’ That’s what the President told us,” the senator told reporters at a Zoom press briefing.
“‘Even with regards the flood control projects (of the Department of Public Works and Highways, or DPWH). If you find something (amiss), we should pursue filing cases … Please go for it.’ That’s really the request of the President,” he added.
Senate hearing
According to Villanueva, the President supports the Senate hearing set for next week to review the existing flood control programs of the DPWH, which was headed by Sen. Mark Villar under the Duterte administration.
Villanueva said Marcos also backed a proposal to harmonize the major infrastructure and anti-flood projects of various agencies in two proposed laws pending in the Senate.
He was referring to Senate Bill Nos. 1987 and 158, which he and Sen. JV Ejercito had filed, respectively.
“We should not be content with band-aid and palliative solutions,” Villanueva said, adding that the country should have an infrastructure “roadmap” to prevent wasting public funds “again and again.”
Bulacan situation
Among the areas worst-hit by the floods caused by Egay and Tropical Storm “Falcon” (international name: Khanun), which followed it, was Bulacan province. Fernando Hicap, chair of the fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), blamed the floods largely on reclamation projects.
He pointed specifically to the P734-billion airport being built by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Bulakan, Bulacan, which is adjacent to Manila Bay.
Hicap told the Inquirer that rivers surrounding the future 2,500-hectare airport complex were allegedly blocked by the project, preventing floodwaters from flowing freely to Manila Bay, thereby worsening the flooding of nearby areas.
In 2019, villagers near the future airport site raised concerns that elevating the ground of the airport complex would leave them to the mercies of nature during the rainy season and the high tides, which would worsen flooding in their communities.
SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang, however, gave assurances in 2020 that the company would use “engineering intervention measures” to mitigate risks, such as flooding.
Ang said in a statement then that SMC had “started implementing sustainable measures” to address the flooding in Bulacan, which he also said “has existed for several decades and has been made worse by clogged waterways and drainages.”
Erosion blamed
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan told the “TeleRadyo Serbisyo” program on Friday that rivers in Bulacan had become shallow due to heavy silting with eroded soil from mountains in the province and nearby Pampanga which is washed down by the rains.
“We need to desilt and dredge rivers in Bulacan and Pampanga. We need to deepen the riverbeds and increase their carrying capacity so that come heavy rains, flood waters would flow more quickly,” Bonoan said.
He also said that some real estate developers continued to build housing projects on flood-prone areas with permission from the local government.
“We already know which areas are flooded easily and yet, sometimes, we still allow subdivisions to be built,” Bonoan said.
He said a “quick fix” to the flooding would be dredging and desilting which they would implement “right away.”
The main floodway in Pampanga is expected to be finished next year to ease flooding in the province, he added.
