Arayat, Pampanga – No flood control project has been as prominently shown as a failure than the P91.4-million flood control in Barangay Candating of this town that failed and destroyed a number of houses last year.

It has almost been a year since the said flood control project collapsed after heavy rains overflowed the Pampanga River on 17 and 18 August 2024, endangering the lives of hundreds of residents near the said river.

Barangay Candating Juliet Guinto is still waiting for an explanation on what she describes an anomalous flood control project that has continued to collapse and is deemed useless by her community.

She said that she hopes that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would personally inspect the said flood control project and answer the needs of their barangay, especially when the president pointed out the corruption and negligence on the infrastructures that are supposed to protect them from calamities.

Guinto is just one of the residents of Barangay Candating who are calling on President Marcos to follow through with his promise, urging for accountability over the failure of a flood control project.

Many of the residents believe that the collapse was no accident and it was the result of substandard construction of the contractor, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and local officials.

Mang Kulas said that there is a connivance between the said officials, citing that defective or incomplete sheet piles were used in the construction. “Sana puntahan ng Presidente itong lugar namin at panagutin ang dapat panagutin,” he added.