Daily Tribune
(FILES) After the deluge Streets turn into rivers and fences into trash traps as Metro Manila reels from days of relentless rain. Workers haul heaps of single-use plastic caught along Araneta Avenue in Quezon City, while residents in Valenzuela and Manila brave knee-deep floods. With the southwest monsoon showing no signs of letting up, the next three days promise more rain — and more hardship.
Photo by TOTO LOZANO, ARAM LASCANO AND ANALY LABOR FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
Senator Risa Hontiveros disclosed that only two out of 254 flood control projects in Quezon City were approved by city authorities.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe on the questionable flood control projects, Hontiveros asked Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials to explain why the agency failed to coordinate with the local government unit (LGU).
"Can flood control projects really be made without coordination with the LGU? And if coordination is necessary, why are there so many projects that are not coordinated with the LGUs?" Hontiveros asked.
The senator also revealed that only 16 out of 254 DPWH flood control projects applied for the certificate of coordination required by the city government. Of these, only two projects later secured final approval from the city authorities.
Hontiveros pointed out "the lack of basic coordination with local officials," which lessens oversight and enables irregularities.
Incidentally, the city saw massive floods in Quezon City, particularly in Mother Ignacia Avenue and Katipunan Avenu,e after an hour of rainfall.
Hontiveros vowed to "vigorously pursue the issue" in the next hearing of the Senate flood control probe.
