HOW bad is the brouhaha over botched flood control projects in the country?
Stinking to high heavens, it would seem, that in his 2025 State of the Nation Address, President Marcos Jr. lashed out at those responsible for wasting precious government funds on ill-conceived, half-baked and even ghost projects.
He pointed out that despite a massive budget allocation of ₱545 billion for flood control projects from July 2022 to May 2025, many areas remain vulnerable to flooding, raising questions about project effectiveness.
He revealed that only 15 out of 2,409 accredited contractors received 18 percent (₱100 billion) of the total budget, and some firms were linked to political families and had projects across multiple regions.
The Chief Executive also disclosed that 64 percent of flood control projects lacked clear descriptions or had identical costs despite being in different locations.
In view of all this, he said he had launched a transparency website (sumbongsapangulo.ph) to allow public access and reporting.
He ended his SONA with a vow to hold corrupt officials and contractors accountable: “Mahiya naman kayo” (“Have some shame”).
A month later, to show that he meant business, the President, along with local government and DPWH officials, inspected on Aug. 24 the rock shed project at Purok Millsite Sitio Camp 6 in Barangay Camp 4, on Kennon Road, a major thoroughfare connecting the mountain city of Baguio to the lowland town of Rosario in La Union, which has since been closed to motorists due to risks of rockfalls and landslides.
According to the President, the slope protection of the project disintegrated, causing boulders from the mountains to fall and damaging the road.
“Here is the problem: This P260 million project [is] useless. It’s like the government threw money into the river. Useless,” the President said.
“To correct this will cost double. That’s my top of the head estimate, P500 million to fix this,” he added.
According to the DPWH, the national government allocated P274 million from its 2022 budget for the construction of a 152-meter, two-lane rock shed along Kennon Road to serve as a protective structure to safeguard motorists from rock falls and landslides.
The contract amounting to P264 million was awarded to a company whose owner ran for congressman under the President’s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas but lost in the 2025 midterm elections.
But the Chief Executive has vowed there would be no sacred cows in his latest crackdown against corrupt officials and private contractors involved in anomalous flood control projects of the government.
As in his previous inspections of flood control projects in different parts of the country, the President warned those involved in anomalous flood control projects that they would be charged with economic sabotage, a nonbailable offense whose penalties include a life sentence.
That’s what our people expect from this administration, and that’s what President Marcos Jr. should do if he really means business.
