Ombudsman looking into Cebu's ₱60 billion worth of flood control projects

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said his office is investigating how Cebu's ₱60 billion of flood control projects in the past six years have been implemented.

Remulla made the statement during his inspection of the flood control projects in the province.

“We looked at the projects of flood control here in Cebu, and from our understanding for the past six years, ₱60 billion has been poured into Cebu. And most of it, or 25%, went to the bulk of it went to the 7th District. And 25% of it also went to a leading contractor, Quirante,” he said in a press conference.

“That should be a lot of money to control the flooding. But apparently, the past month, flooding happened again here in Cebu. So we have to look at what's happening,” he added.

Remulla said that some irregularities in flood control projects cannot be readily seen by the naked eye at first glance, such as the standard sheet piles which are shorter that the standard height.

“Is it the design? Is it the execution? Or is it just corruption? We will find out and we will know,” he said.

“For example, the sheet piling of flood control structures is set at 14 meters as a national standard. Is it the proper standard or is it over specified? From what we experienced in Luzon, in Bulacan, the 14 meters standard is four meters long. So iyong 10 meters, kita agad 'yun [So the 10 meters can be easily seen]," Remulla added. — BM, GMA News