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President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon inspect a dike along Pampanga River in Brgy. Bulusan, Calumpit, Bulacan on August 15, 2025. Joining them are Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando and Brgy. Bulusan captain Danilo Marin. (Courtesy: Presidential Communications Office)
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday ordered a full investigation into a Bulacan flood control project after discovering that about 200 meters of the revetment in the River Protection Structure were never built, despite records showing it as completed.
The revelation came during an inspection in Calumpit, where a resident had earlier written to the President to complain about allegedly defective infrastructure, citing poor-quality materials, inadequate soil compaction, and the failure to remove water hyacinths clogging waterways.
“This is clear. The chairman told us, over 200 meters were not built at all. And not only that, the dike has holes. It should be solid, yet the report says it’s completed,” President Marcos said in Filipino.
To verify the complaints, Mr. Marcos deployed scuba divers to examine the structures. They found that thick silt had buried the walls beneath the concrete slope protection, hiding any sheet piles that should have been in place.
Upon probing, divers discovered that the beam was no longer connected to any sheet pile support and that a visible gap existed between the two, a flaw that should not occur if the structure had been built to ensure durability.
He also cited other serious lapses, including improperly placed steel reinforcements, uneven and thin concrete work, and water seeping underneath the structure.
Photographs and eyewitness accounts, he noted, contradicted official completion records.
The President questioned project documents, claiming that desiltation had been carried out, even though the riverbed was still shallow and clogged with debris.
President Marcos said the project, linked to a private contractor, will be subjected to a full review to determine how public funds were spent and why construction failed to meet specifications.
“Now that we know, we will trace where these programs came from, where the funds went, and why this happened,” he said, adding that whistleblower reports submitted through government platforms were instrumental in uncovering the alleged irregularities.
Bulacan, a flood-prone province in Central Luzon, has long grappled with seasonal inundation.
The President’s findings and the resident’s complaint have renewed calls for stricter oversight of public works and urgent upgrades to the province’s flood control systems. — Charles Dantes
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Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
