The House of Representatives begins its investigation into alleged anomalies in flood control projects tomorrow with the committee chair vowing to spare no one including allies and those close to President Marcos.
One such example, they said, is the city of Navotas, where the sitting congressman is not only a political ally of President Marcos but also his cousin-in-law.
Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, co-chair of the House Infrastructure Committee, said the matter warrants closer scrutiny by Congress and other panels investigating flood control projects.
“While we acknowledge that Navotas, being one of the most flood-prone cities in Metro Manila, deserves funding for flood control projects, the inclusion of Topnotch Catalyst Builders and St Timothy Construction as two of the city’s contractors warrants closer scrutiny into Navotas’ flood control projects,” Ridon said.
“St. Timothy is already involved in two anomalous flood control projects in Iloilo City and Bulacan, which were inspected by the President himself,” he said.
Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc., in particular, got almost 15 percent of the contracts in Navotas, data from the Sumbong sa Pangulo website showed.
Ridon said Topnotch and St. Timothy, both of which skipped a recent Senate Blue Ribbon hearing, have been invited to attend the House hearing, along with the other top contractors and DPWH.
Amid brewing scrutiny of flood control projects in his district, Rep. Toby Tiangco clarified that his office plays no role in the selection of contractors.
“The framing of the Program of Works [project specifications] and bidding out of projects are not within the purview of my office, and I do not meddle in them. My efforts are focused, as I have repeatedly said, on getting funding for projects, so people can benefit from them at the soonest,” he told Manila Standard in Filipino.
The Navotas lawmaker emphasized that it should not be surprising that much funds are poured into controlling floods in his city because, “Navotas is below sea level during high tide and lies downstream of the Tullahan River. This means the water level during high tide is higher than the land of Navotas. Therefore, flooding is really the number one issue that needs to be addressed.”
For his part, House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre said there needs to be further scrutiny as data on the Sumbong sa Pangulo website is still incomplete, so any judgment without the full picture would be premature.
“Navotas may have a good explanation—it’s true that the area is constantly flooded most of the year. But other districts can give the same reasoning. The important thing is, what level of responsibility is demanded of one should be the same demanded of all,” he said.
Meanwhile, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. has questioned why Davao City continues to experience floods despite a P51 Billion allocation for infrastructure development, including flood control projects, under the Duterte administration.
“I think he received P51 billion in the three years that he was a congressman during his father’s time,” Abante told Bilyonaryo TV in an Aug. 29 interview.
He was referring to Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, son of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Manila solon stated that the huge amount was allocated during the second half of the former president’s six-year term.
Abante refuted the younger Duterte’s claim that there were no flood control structures collapsing in Davao City, saying, “Well, that is very good, no? But I was told that there are about 250 areas in Davao City that were actually flooded. I do not know if it had subsided immediately. But it is flooded.”
In response, Duterte said, “If he [Abante] really wants to know the exact figures, I am directing the DPWH district and regional offices to provide him the official data and amounts.”
“There are no collapsing flood control projects here [Davao City], nor are there ‘ghost projects.’ If there are floods here, they recede quickly, not like the swimming pools in your area [Manila],” the Davao City lawmaker added in Filipino.
For its part, Malacañang said that President Marcos is open to suggestions from the Dutertes on addressing failures in the government’s flood control projects.
“And if they have sensible suggestions, the President is open to listening to everyone,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said over the weekend.
The Palace spokesperson added that the Dutertes could also help by informing the general public about the over 13,000 flood control projects established by former President Rodrigo Duterte, tasking then DPWH Secretary, now Senator Mark Villar, on those efforts.
“What they could help is to inform the people of the 13,917 flood control projects of the previous administration so that everyone can know if they are existing, operational, effective in addressing the flood problem, and if we are feeling these projects now and in the past,” Castro said.
