Isko Moreno calls out DPWH for undertaking projects without consultation

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno answers questions during a press conference with San Miguel Corporation president and CEO Ramon Ang and other Metro Manila mayors on Friday, August 8, 2025. — Screengrab from Isko Moreno Domagoso/Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has called out Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan for allegedly undertaking projects in the City of Manila without prior consultation with the city’s local government unit.

In a press conference on Friday, Moreno emphasized that it became a “bad habit” of the DPWH to undertake projects in his city without consultation, leading to dysfunctional and costly outcomes like the Sunog Apog pumping station located in Tondo, Manila.

“It has become a bad habit, that they think they are national government; they can do whatever they want to do in the local government without even, to the point, telling, asking permission, explaining the purpose of the project,” he emphasized.

READ: SMC’s Ang offers to clean waterways, solve flooding in Metro Manila

“That’s what really became the problem here. That’s why multiple pumping stations that don’t work have appeared,” he further said.

According to Moreno, the Sunog Apog pumping station, which he recently blamed for the flooding in the Sampaloc district, particularly along España Boulevard, was one of the DPWH’s ongoing projects that did not undergo consultation with the local government of Manila City.

He pointed out that it was still in 2023 when the DPWH wanted to turn over the management, supervision, and operation of the Sunog Apog pumping station to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), but the latter did not accept it as it was not functioning.

“It’s still 2023, so the DPWH already knows it’s not working. It’s 2025, there’s a storm, it’s still not working. It hasn’t been fixed,” Moreno said.

“The country is bleeding money. Now, it’s amounting to P774 million,” he added.

With this, the Manila mayor addressed the DPWH chief, saying, “To Secretary Bonoan: ‘Stop constructing projects without consulting the local government, especially on the river.’”

“There is a Local Water Code. We also have jurisdiction over water. While we recognize MMDA under existing law, the management and supervision of waterways is under them, but when they start building facilities, vertical development, we must be informed as the local government,” Moreno emphasized.

The INQUIRER.net reached out to Bonoan regarding Moreno’s statements, but he has yet to reply as of this writing. /das