Oriental Mindoro Gov. Dolor dismayed by damaged dikes

Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor expressed his dismay over damaged dikes in his province, which was hit by floods due to the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat and the consecutive storms last month, even as these were put up fairly recently.

Dolor over the weekend inspected several dikes, including one in Mulawin, Naujan where a security guard initially refused to let officials enter, as he said he received orders from the management not to let anyone in without a written request from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Kaya ba pati Gobernador ayaw ninyo papasukin kasi may tinatago kayo? Dugo’t pawis ng bayan yan! [Is this why you won’t even let the Governor in? Because you’re hiding something? That’s the people’s blood and sweat!],” he said in a post on his Facebook account.

Dolor was eventually able to inspect the dike, which he said was full of sand, and the sheet piles were poorly embedded, and even broken, as reported by Darlene Cay on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

He also inspected another flood control project in Barangay Tagumpay in Naujan, which he said cost P1 billion for one kilometer, noting that he only saw one piece of metal rod, a waste of funds when compared with the Capitol with a P2-billion budget for a year.

“Sa haba na ho ng aking paglalakbay dito, ako po’y lubos na nagpapasalamat dahil may isang bakal na inilagay. Imaginine niyo ho, all throughout, walang bakal, pero ito, meron. Salamat ho ng marami sa gumawa nito, sa nag-inspect nito, at sa DPWH,” he said sarcastically.

(In the long course of my journey here, I am deeply grateful because there’s at least one metal reinforcement placed. Just imagine, all throughout there was no metal, but here, there is. Many thanks to those who made this, to those who inspected this, and to the DPWH.)

Oriental Mindoro is one of the flood prone areas recently cited by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who has ordered a review of the flood control projects across the country.

GMA News Online is still trying to reach out to the private contractors of the said projects, and the DPWH for comment on the matter.

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, Marcos warned government personnel who steal public funds—such as those for flood control projects—to have some shame.

Just last week Marcos launched a website for citizens to report on flood control projects. He said 20% of the P545-billion budget for flood control projects was awarded to only 15 contractors, five of whom have contracts across the country. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News