Think tank: VP Sara gave wrong assumptions on Davao flood project

Vice President Sara Duterte —Inquirer photo/Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — A think tank on Monday questioned Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that the government is refusing to fund a flood control program in Davao City, as the masterplan for the project was only finalized in July 2023 and has not yet even been scrapped.

“The vice president’s recent tirades on flood control don’t hold water. At best, we can rate her statement as missing essential context,” said Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon in a statement.

In her statement last Friday, Duterte accused the current administration of neglecting a flood control project in Davao City—which she claims was formulated during her father’s term (former President Rodrigo Duterte)—simply because a Duterte is currently leading the city.

READ: VP Duterte hits Marcos admin for neglecting Davao flood control

But Ridon first pointed out that it was “wrong” for Duterte to attribute the master plan to his father’s term, explaining that while the Philippine government requested assistance from Japan to come up with a master plan for the project during his father’s term in 2017, the plan was only finalized in 2023—already a year after her father’s term ended.

“It is wrong for VP Duterte to say that the Davao City master plan was formulated under her father’s term. Sure, the review began under her father, but it was finished just last year. She is characteristically rushing something that costs billions of pesos to construct–with funding coming from foreign loans at that,” said Ridon.

Rushing such a project, said Ridon, could then lead to “excess wastage and nefarious deeds.”

“This is what we are most concerned about: is it proper for one of the highest officials of the land to rush a multi billion-peso project even without knowing its specifics? That trait leads to excess, wastage, and nefarious deeds,” he added.

Not a political issue

Ridon then further questioned why Duterte is painting the project as a political issue, when the project remains to be part of the government’s flood control initiatives.

He cited Tables B13 and B14 of the 2025 Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, which showed that the same project the Vice President is focusing on is already listed as a programmed loan under JICA, with total proposed costs for fiscal year 2025 amounting to P168,000.

He then pointed out that funding for big-ticket projects such as the Davao City flood project “usually gets reflected in the national budget on the year that the actual construction commences.”

“As the feasibility study for the project was completed just last year, it is understandable that the substantial amount needed for its construction is not yet reflected in the budget books. However, it is more important that it’s on the list, meaning it has not been dropped or listed into oblivion, thereby dispelling VP Sara’s unfounded charades,” Ridon said.

Why harp only on projects in Davao?

Ridon then urged Duterte to expose possible issues on major existing projects, like the flood control projects in the country’s 18 major river basins, instead of “nitpicking projects under her family’s bailiwick.”

“We are all for transparency and holding accountable those who abuse and misuse public funds to the detriment of the public. Our advice to VP Duterte: Instead of yapping ceaselessly, join public interest groups as we scour the tomes of budget documents and reveal possible red flags, especially in the administration’s P1.5-trillion infrastructure outlay for next year,” he said.

INQUIRER.net has already sought Duterte’s comment, through the Office of the Vice President, but has yet to receive a response, as of posting.

The Vice President began openly assailing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration after quitting her position in his Cabinet as education secretary, and not attending the President’s third State of the Nation address.