Joselito Malig

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Some flood control projects turned out to be harmful, and may even have to be demolished, according to Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon when he briefed the Senate Finance Committee on his agency&#x27;s 2026 budget. &quot;According to Usec David, their evidence shows that not only have those some of those flood control projects been useless, but they have become harmful pa. Meaning, sumama pa yung baha,&quot; Dizon said. &quot;Dahil nga yung kung ineexplain ni Undersecretary CP kanina na ang mga dike kasi, problema dyan, either both rinirestrict ang flow ng tubig, ibig sabihin yung carrying capacity ng mga waterways lumiliit, but ang more harmful doon ay yung pinapag-bilis niya yung daloy ng tubig o yung velocity of water speeds up. At yun ang mas nakakasira at nakakasama,” Dizon added.&quot;Because we are already thinking ahead that with enough data and with enough evidence, maybe we might even need to dismantle some of those flood control projects because of their net harmful effects to the communities and the environment,” he said.Senator Loren Legarda noted that almost half of the projects reviewed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Water Resources Management Office turned out to be anomalous.&quot;WRMO&#x27;s evaluation shows that 42% of the projects reviewed were unconstructed, duplicated, or already existing, yet some were declared completed and paid for. So may I know, how are these projects cleared for payment and certification despite being absent or duplicated? And can we use the systems to demand project completion, case building, and or restitution?&quot; she asked.Dizon said Legarda that the DPWH will work with the DENR on this.Legarda noted the DENR WRMO has a database, but Dizon admitted he only learned of the DENR data recently.Legarda noted that flood management has been fragmented and planned along political boundaries instead of mother nature.&quot;Does the DENR recommend shifting DPWH flood control programming from district, meaning congressional or provincial levels, to a basin-based framework aligned with the integrated water resources management principles, and can the DPWH adopt river basin level coordination using updated geological and sedimentation data. In short, nature-based, scientific, hindi political or administrative boundaries. So, what kind of innovation, if any, has the DPWH new team done to take this into consideration? Because we&#x27;re talking about  allocable and non allocable eh distrito pa rin di pa rin nature-based, hindi pa rin scientific eh. Political pa rin eh,” she said.DENR Undersecretary  for Water Resources Management Office Carlos Primo David earlier flagged poorly situated flood control projects that have done a lot of harm.&quot;Ghost projects actually come in many forms, not just those that are unconstructed, but also those that are duplicated within the same funding year or in previous years. Projects that are located in invalid sites wherein there are no rivers or creeks, or also incomplete wherein the prescribed length is actually much shorter than what is funded,&quot; David said.&quot;The third kind, which I wish to focus on are the poorly situated projects. Here&#x27;s an example pala of multiple projects in a single river. Ito yung nakakalitong pinag-uusapan kanina,” David told the Senate Finance Committee.&quot;The poorly situated projects are in my personal opinion, are more important even compared to the ghost projects that we have been investigating.”&quot;Every time we constrict, block, divert, or alter natural waterways, we change the velocity and volume of water flow. In this particular case, in New Bataan, Davao de Oro, it is clearly seen that the dike constricts the river, makes it straight instead of meandering. And the effect of this is that the flow of water that will normally spread throughout its floodplain will now be diverted further downstream, creating more floods downstream,” he added.David proposes flood control projects that will also put flood waters to good use.&quot;We have drafted a National Flood Management Master Plan which should be harmonized with that of DPWH. We advance the IWRM approach, Integrated Water Resources Management approach. We recognize water as a vital national asset, one that includes even floodwaters, which when harnessed can be used for water supply, irrigation, hydropower, aquaculture, and other productive uses,” he said.&quot;This year we initiated feasibility studies for 21 of these kinds of projects. These are not yet included in our proposed budget in DENR. As we are completing the studies, consulting the concerned LGUs and securing the necessary permits including our own ECC,” David added.David explained that the DENR, through the Water Resources Management Office, serves as co-chair of the DEP-DEV Infrastructure Committee on the Subcommittee on Water Resources. &quot;The SCWR advocates for increased investment in the water sector, aims to reduce duplication of government projects, and promotes accountability and project convergence among the different departments,” he said.David said they have assessed over 5,300 flood control projects  implemented from 2021 to 2024. &quot;All findings are compiled in an online dashboard that has been shared with PMS, DBM, and DPWH, allowing validation of our assessments on the ground,” he said.&quot;We classify projects into three categories. Validated, meaning they are confirmed to exist and effectively protect communities from flooding.This is about 23% of all the projects that we have assessed,” David added.Dizon recommended the removal of flood control projects from the 2026 budget to not only to prevent corruption, but also to make sure these are better planned.<div>ALL DISCAYA-DPWH CONTRACTS TERMINATED</div>Dizon also said that projects connected to the Discayas have been terminated.Legarda had urged the termination of questionable projects. &quot;We have terminated several already based on the cases that have been filed as well as the licenses that have been cancelled. So, there is a clear process. Mr. Chairman, Madam Senator, and we&#x27;ve already terminated several already, particularly all the contracts of the Discaya companies as well as their joint venture partners as well as the other companies where we have filed cases such as WAWAW SYMS, etc. So we will consult with the Office of the Solicitor General and we will see paano natin makahabol ito,” Dizon explained.This as members of the Senate Finance Committee are eyeing the generation of savings from the overpriced projects that are the subject of a purge by the agency from their proposed 2026 budget for reallocation to other expenses.Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian believes they can generate savings about twice the savings being eyed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. from clamping down on overpriced projects.&quot;Because we want to, ito pinag-uusapan natin, Senator Loren, and we want to reflect that savings, hopefully, in the budget, so that we can utilize that funds for other purposes. Parang magamit rin natin to build more schools or build more infrastructure projects. So we want to capture that. Estimate nga ni Presidente, 45, estimate nga namin is around 70 to 80 billion. But more or less, nasa ganun na range na siya. So, that&#x27;s what we want to capture,” Gatchalian said.

Some flood control projects turned out to be harmful, and may even have to be demolished, according to Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon when he briefed the Senate Finance Committee on his agency's 2026 budget.

Some flood control projects turned out to be harmful, and may even have to be demolished, according to Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon when he briefed the Senate Finance Committee on his agency's 2026 budget.

Dizon: Some flood control projects were harmful, will have to be demolished

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Dizon: Some flood control projects were harmful, will have to be demolished

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 27, 2025 10:52 PM PHT

Read More:

Senate

DPWH

Department of Public Works and Highways

Vince Dizon

infrastructure

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