PUBLIC Works Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday vowed to run after the contractor, personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other individuals who were responsible for the collapse of the P91.4-million flood control project in Barangay Candating, Arayat, Pampanga.
Dizon, following an inspection, said the 110.2-meter flood control dike was not in accordance with design standards, thus a part of the structure collapsed at the height of Super Typhoon Carina on Aug. 17, 2024.
“First of all, it appears that the flood control design in Candating, Arayat is not really correct. There is something wrong with the design,” Dizon said.
He said the contractor had earlier been told to fix the collapsing foundation of the dike but did not do it properly.
The contractor, identified as Eddmari Construction and Trading Co., was supposed to complete the repair in April 2025 at no cost to the government as the project was still under warranty.
“So we need to decide here to really hold those who should be held accountable. Including the people in the DPWH, including the contractor, and there are also those who are reporting to us with links to congressmen,” Dizon said. “We cannot let this go.” The DPWH, he further said, is now in the process of identifying all the people involved and their findings will be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution.
Dizon said that engineering teams were already on-site to implement urgent measures to protect affected houses and residents even as he assured them that the design will be overhauled to ensure a structurally sound and permanent flood control system.
In a related development, Dizon also disclosed that he will file new charges against the contractor and officials of the DPWH over the alleged substandard flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
Dizon made the statement following disclosure by Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor that another section of the road dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River had collapsed, which contributed to the massive flooding in the town of Najuan and Victoria in December last year.
The collapse, he noted, was in the same area where another alleged substandard flood control project built by Sunwest Inc., a contractor owned by the family of former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co, saying that it involved the same road dike but a different segment.
The contractor for the two flood control projects worth P420 million was identified as New Big Four J.
“There will be new charges to be filed. These are from DPWH, the same people. I saw the papers that former regional director (Gerald Pacanan) signed,” he added.
