60% of DAP-funded flood-control projects completed — DPWH

MANILA, Philippines — Of some 100 government flood control projects funded by about P4.96 billion in Disbursement Acceleration Program, or DAP funds, more than 60 have been completed while the rest are nearing completion, according to a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) report furnished the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The projects, which started in late 2012, are part of the DPWH’s ambitious flood control master plan for Metro Manila and outlying areas in Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog, which calls for the resettlement of more than 787,000 people, many of whom are illegal settlers, among other measures.

At least 56 of the completed projects are in the National Capital Region, or Metro Manila.

They include six projects under the Upper Marikina River Improvement Program, which has a budget of P222.5 million; four projects under the East Mangahan Floodway Program, P190 million; two projects under the Mangahan Floodway Dredging Program, P100 million; the Marikina River dredging project, P50 million, and the Manila Bay seawall strengthening project, P211.05 million, among others.

Twenty-four of 46 projects under the Valenzuela-Obando-Meycauayan River program, with a budget allocation of P1.53 billion, were “already completed,” the DPWH report said.

On the other hand, 12 of 18 projects covered by Phase 1 of the Kalookan-Malabon-Navotas Area flood control program, which has a funding of P600 million, were also finished.

In Central Luzon, four of six projects under the program Mitigation Measures for Breaches in the San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin Tail Dike program in Pampanga were already completed. The six projects have a budget allocation of P637 million.

Two of three projects under the rehabilitation works on the same tail dike, with a funding of P139 million, were also completed.

Also finished were the dredging works on the Orani River in Bataan and the Del Carmen-Balimbing Creek San Fernando City, also in Pampanga, with budget allocations of P50 million and P30 million, respectively.

In Southern Tagalog, the P780-million Laguna lake flood control and river protection convergence program is “being implemented by the DPWH and the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Two projects under the program – the construction of river control structures at the Sta. Maria-Mabitac and the Sta. Cruz-San Pedro-Biñan rivers – have an “average accomplishment of 92.52 percent,” according to the DPWH.

Meanwhile, two of 13 units of amphibious dredging equipment purchased by the agency for P136.5 million have already been delivered.

“Two other units are still awaiting release by the Bureau of Customs while the remaining nine units are expected to be delivered by the end of August 2014,” said the report.

It also disclosed that in February, the DPWH’s office in the NCR started the engineering designs of the southern end of the Roxas Boulevard seawall, located near the Government Service Insurance System-Senate complex. The project has a budget of P13 million.

In a related development, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson clarified that since the DAP-funded projects were either already completed or ongoing, they would not be dropped after a Supreme Court ruling declaring practices under the DAP unconstitutional.

He pointed out “they are already covered by contracts and funded.”

However, Singson said that with the recent Supreme Court ruling, he had to put on hold “projects not yet started.” He did not identify the projects he was referring to.

Sometime in November, the DPWH acknowledged that it received nearly P5 billion in DAP funds.

The agency disclosed that in 2012, it got an initial P3.94 billion in DAP money, followed by an additional P1.06 billion last August.

Unlike the DAP-funded projects, more than 550 small-scale  infrastructure projects nationwide funded by the equally controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) have been suspended by the DPWH.

The projects, however, would be resumed “as soon as the DPWH secures funding from other government budgetary sources,” Reynaldo Tagudando, director of the agency’s office in the National Capital Region.

The Department of Budget and Management and the DPWH had “agreed to issue payments to contractors whose PDAF projects are either partially or already completed.”

“The DPWH will validate the claims of contractors who have been expecting payment for their completed work,” he told the INQUIRER.

In a landmark ruling late 2013, the Supreme Court declared the PDAF and all congressional provisions covering the use of pork barrel funds “in violation of the Constitution.”

The high tribunal also ruled that PDAF funds should be returned to the national treasury.

In a report posted on the DPWH’s website, the National Capital Region (NCR), or Metro Manila placed eighth on the agency’s list of PDAF project beneficiaries, with a total of 26 projects.

But the NCR received the biggest budgetary allocation with nearly P110 million in PDAF funds. Next came Southern Tagalog with P93.3 million, followed by Caraga with P91.3 million; Bicol, P71.9 million; Western Mindanao, P71.5 million; Western Visayas, P56.7 million; Eastern Visayas, P53.7 million; Northern Mindanao, P51.5 million; Cordillera Administrative Region, P34.3 million; Cagayan Valley, P31 million; Soccsksargen, P27.8 million; Central Luzon, P15 million; Ilocos, P9.6 million; Mimaropa, P5.1 million; Davao region, P5 million; and Central Visayas, P2.75 million.

The report did not identify the projects’ legislator-sponsors, but gave an update on the status of the projects, many of which had only been partially completed.

In Metro Manila, only two of the 26 projects had been completed. They were the construction of a schoolbuilding at the Industrial Valley Complex in Marikina City and the repair of a multipurpose building in Barangay 70, Pasay City.

With budget allocations of P5 million and P750,000, respectively, they were finished early this year by their contractors, EA Ramirez Construction and Redcar Trading and Construction.

The partially completed projects in Metro Manila include the following: A multipurpose building at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, with a budget of P20 million; the P10-million Manila-Pateros River bank improvement works, with a P10-million; and the repair of the Philippine Army Officers’ Quarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, with a budget of P10 million, among others.

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