Bulacan floods due to mess done by Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez —DPWH's Vince Dizon

The flooding in Bulacan is due to the mess done by former Department of Public Works and Highways-Bulacan officials Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez and their cohorts, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said Wednesday.

"Ang problema kasi sa Bulacan dahil nga sa pagbababoy ng mga... nina Alcantara du'n, sina Hernandez, at kung sino man mga kakontsaba nila, 'yung mga dapat na humaharang sa high tide, wala. Either butas o may gap, or wala talaga," Dizon told reporters after inspecting a pumping station in Manila.

(The problem in Bulacan is because of the mess done by Alcantara, Hernandez, and whoever their cohorts are, the infrastructure that should have protected communities against high tide are not there. Either these are broken, have gaps, or there really is no structure at all.)

"So halimbawa, sa Calumpit, 'yung Barangays Bulusan, Calizon, Frances, inaayos na natin 'yung mga gap na 'yon. So 'pag 'yon natapos, mababawasan 'yung pagbaha kahit 'pag summer," he said.

(So for example, in Calumpit, in Barangays Bulusan, Calizon, and Frances, we are fixing the gaps. So when those are fixed, the flooding would be lessened even during summer.)

"Ganu'n din 'yung gagawin natin sa Hagonoy," Dizon said.

(We will do the same in Hagonoy.)

Calumpit and Hagonoy in Bulacan get easily flooded whenever there are rains or when there is high tide.

READ: Residents seek lasting solution as flooding persists in Bulacan village

READ: Tricycles in Hagonoy, Bulacan modified to cope with floods

READ: Hagonoy Public Cemetery remains flooded despite town’s 43 flood projects

Dizon said although charges have been filed against Alcantara, Hernandez, and other former DPWH personnel in connection with anomalous flood control projects, the flooding problem persists and has to be solved.

"So hindi puwedeng ano lang kasi nakasuhan na nakakulong na lahat nu'ng mga luko-loko doon eh. Pero ngayon, kailangan nating ayusin kasi kawawa 'yung mga kababayan natin sa Bulacan. So 'yun ang ginagawa natin," he said.

(So it doesn't mean that since those who were behind the mess were already charged and locked up, we'll leave it at that. We have to fix the problem because our countrymen in Bulacan are suffering. So that's what we are doing.)

It would take time to fix the flooding problem, he admitted.

"So problema lang, siyempre 'di naman 'yan magic na matatapos overnight. Matagal-tagal 'yan. Di ba. Kasi binaboy nila lahat 'yan eh. So kailangan ayusin natin lahat," Dizon said.

(So the problem is, of course, it's not like magic that it would be finished overnight. It would take a while. Right? Because they messed up everything. So we have to fix everything.) —KG, GMA News