DPWH: Sorry, floods to recur till all 100 projects finished

Commuters make their way through a flooded street after heavy monsoon rains spawned by tropical storm Fung-Wong (local name Mario) flooded Manila and most parts of the metropolis Friday, Sept 19, 2014 in the Philippines. AP

The flash floods that shut down Metropolitan Manila and nearby provinces on Friday will keep recurring until the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can finish clearing the waterways, upgrading the pumping stations and unclogging the roadside drains in the National Capital Region, the government said.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said “all these interventions are already [going on, but] they cannot be [finished] overnight.”

In a text message to the Inquirer, the DPWH said it hoped the public would understand the situation.

The Inquirer reported that of some 100 government flood-control projects funded by P4.96 billion from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), more than 60 had been completed while the rest were nearing completion.

The projects, the development of which started in late 2012, are part of the DPWH’s ambitious flood-control master plan for Metro Manila and surrounding areas in Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon.

At least 56 of the completed projects are in Metro Manila.

Singson had said that since most of the DAP-funded projects were either already completed or nearing completion, they would not be dropped despite a Supreme Court ruling that declared the DAP unconstitutional.

“[The projects] are already covered by contracts and funded,” Singson said.

But with the Supreme Court’s decision, Singson said he had to put on hold “projects not yet started.”

He did not identify those projects.

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

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

The completed DAP-funded flood-control projects include the Upper Marikina River improvement program, which cost P222.5 million; four projects under the 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.

Twenty-four of 46 projects under the Valenzuela-Obando-Meycauayan River Program, with a budget allocation of P1.53 billion, were also “already completed,” said a DPWH report, a copy of which was furnished the Inquirer.

Twelve of 18 projects covered by Phase 1 of the Kalookan-Malabon-Navotas Area Flood-Control Program, which had a funding of P600 million, were also finished.

Unlike the DAP-funded projects, more than 550 small 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 agency secures funding from other government budgetary sources,” said Reynaldo Tagudando, director of the DPWH office in Metro Manila.

The Department of Budget and Management and the DPWH have “agreed to issue payments to contractors whose PDAF-funded projects are either partially or already completed,” Tagudando said.

He said the DPWH would “validate the claims of contractors who have been expecting payment for their completed work.”

In a ruling in 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 court also ruled that PDAF funds should be returned to the National Treasury.

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