‘Ni plano wala’: Dizon bares flood projects have no master plan

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon disclosed on Thursday, 18 September, that flood control projects across the country have no master plan.

"Ni plano wala. Every time na mag-inspection kami, ang una pong tinatanong ko pag sa site mismo, pag nakausap ko po yung contractor, subcontractor, foreman, ang hinihingi ko po agad plano, patingin ng plano (There's no plan. Every time we inspect, the first thing I ask when I am at the site, when I talk to the contractor, subcontractor, foreman, is about the plan)," Dizon said during the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing.

"In almost all cases, wala pong maipakitang plano (In almost all cases, they could not show a plan)," he added.

The DPWH said that even when building a small house, it needs a plan before beginning construction, so hundreds of millions of flood control projects should also have a plan.

"Wala po silang maipakita kaya po kasama ito sa aming investigation kung bakit po pinapayagan ito paano nakakalusot itong napakaraming proyektong ito (They could not show us a plan, so this is included in our ongoing investigation into why this was allowed in many of these projects)," Dizon stressed.

Earlier, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte disclosed that dozens of flood control projects implemented by the DPWH in the city remain unaccounted for, describing these as "ghost projects."

Belmonte was referring to the findings of the local government's investigation into the DPWH flood control projects in the city from 2022 to 2025.

From the 254 flood mitigation projects initially identified by the local government, the total number of DPWH projects in Quezon City ballooned to 331 after district offices submitted an updated list.

Of the 331 flood control projects from 2022 to 2025 worth P17 billion, only two have been coordinated or approved by the city.

This is less than one percent of those who followed the master plan of the local government of Quezon City.

Further, among the 331 projects, 66 had "location errors," including 35 without coordinates and "cannot be found," and another 31 with incorrect coordinates, according to Belmonte.

"We are seeing a very, very similar pattern in every area that we visit and in every report we get, there's a little to zero coordination with the local governments, with the province, much less the regional development councils," Dizon continued.

"And just on the master plan, the latest finished plan that I have, based on my knowledge, was in 2013," he added.