Tinio flags P4.35-B flood control projects in Pulong's district as 'irregular'

At least P4.35 billion worth of flood control projects in the first district of Davao City from 2019 to 2022 are irregular, if not questionable, due to overlapping, double funding, and lack of details, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said Wednesday.

Tinio said his observations, which covered 121 flood control project contracts from 2019 to 2022, are based on government data from the Sumbong sa Pangulo website and submissions from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Of the 121 contracts, Tinio stated 80 were marred by irregularities, including:

Total Overlap (P135.14M): Two contracts funded construction on identical river sections. For instance, a 2019 project section was included again in a 2020 contract;

Double Funding (P115.09M): Two contracts were awarded to different contractors for the exact same project location (e.g., revetment at the Davao River Bridge upstream section);

Location/GAA Mismatch (P484.04M): Nine contracts were implemented at different locations or with significantly reduced coverage compared to the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Example: A GAA item budgeted P30 million for 375 meters of revetment, but the contract only covered 120 meters while overcharging P161,250 per meter (budgeted P80,000);

Lack of Details (P3.44B): 62 contracts lacked proper specifications (like exact location and length) in official records, hindering verification**;**

Not in GAA (P622.57M): 10 contracts were implemented despite having no corresponding line items in the approved national budget.

"Our analysis reveals a pattern of irregularities that demands explanation and accountability. There are indicators that point to ghost projects, double funding, location changes, gross overpricing, and contracts awarded without clear specifications,” Tinio said.

“The first type of red flag that we saw…there are a lot of awarded [flood control project] contracts without details. When you look at the GAA (National budget law), it just states Construction of Davao River Flood Control Davao City. [So,] it's somewhere along the Davao River, gaano kahaba? Eh, hindi natin alam. Iyon ang problema rito,” Tinio added.

(How wide should that flood control project be? We don’t know. That is the problem here.)

The Representative of the First District of Davao City from 2019 to 2022 was Paolo Duterte, who still occupies the post to this day.

Of the 80 questionable flood control projects, 54 were done along Davao River while 26 were implemented along Matina River, Tinio said.

Given such findings, Tinio called on relevant government agencies such as the Commission on Audit (COA), the Office of the Ombudsman and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to probe these flood control projects in the First District of Davao City.

“These flood control projects are questionable, so other agencies should conduct a thorough investigation on these projects,” Tinio said.

“This is not about targeting someone. Kung kailangan may managot, dapat managot,” he added.

(If there are people liable for these questionable projects, those people should be held accountable.)

'The structures exist' 

In a statement on Wednesday night, Duterte said the flood control projects in his district were "implemented, inspected, and validated by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Commission on Audit (COA)."

“The structures exist. They are serving the people. They are not 'ghosts'—unlike the kind of politics some people keep reviving every time they need attention," he added.

Duterte challenged Tinio to “come to Davao, walk the riverbanks, see the projects, and talk to the people whose homes no longer flood because of those structures. Then maybe you’ll realize the only thing missing in your so-called investigation is the truth.”

The Davao City congressman also questioned the credibility of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure's inspection of flood control projects nationwide.

"And to the ICI: stop pretending this is a 'national audit' when you keep flying your people—RETIRED POLICE, RECYCLED APPOINTEES, and non-engineers—to Davao just to take photos beside working projects," he said, adding that the ICI should deploy "real engineers" instead of "political operators." —MCG/VBL, GMA Integrated News