Abante: Davao City prone to flooding despite P51B projects

Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. — Screengrab from House of Representatives/Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Despite Davao City being allotted a P51 billion budget for infrastructure projects, including flood control, the city remains prone to flooding, according to Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante.

In an interview with Bilyonaryo TV last Friday, Abante said that the amount was given during the second half of the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I think he received P51 billion in the three years that he was a congressman during his father’s time,” Abante said as quoted in a statement, referring to Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

READ: Abante tells Duterte: Ask your brother where flood funds went

The Department of Public Works and Highways previously confirmed that the P51 billion budget allocation for Rep. Duterte’s congressional district was based on the General Appropriations Act of 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Reacting to Rep. Duterte’s statement that no failure of flood control projects is observed in Davao City, Abante said: “Well, that is very good, no? But I was told that there are about 250 areas in Davao City that actually were flooded. I don’t know if the flood immediately subsides but it is flooded.”

Despite this reaction, Abante clarified that he is not accusing his fellow lawmaker of anything.

“I am not accusing him of anything. I have never accused him of any ghost project. I have never accused him of any substandard project,” Abante said.

Abante also slammed Davao City Acting Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s statement that the Marcos administration’s directive to probe anomalies in flood control projects was just a “PR (public relations) stunt.”

Abante reiterated his suggestion for the acting mayor to ask his brother to know what happened with the amount that is allocated for flood control projects.

READ: House probe to cover Davao flood control

“I said, why don’t you talk to your brother who received that much amount of money to find out what happened to the flood control projects that he had. That’s P51 billion,” Abante noted.

The Manila lawmaker also shared that the House tri-comm investigation on flood control projects will also cover Davao City as well as other areas in Mindanao. The investigation is set to begin on Tuesday.

Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, chairperson of the panel on public accounts, which is part of the House “infracomm,” previously said that they would look into the flood control project allocations for Davao City during the Duterte administration, including those in the congressional district of Rep. Duterte. /das