Mayor questions ‘completed’ Peñaranda flood control project

Mayor Joselito A. Ramos has questioned the report of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that the P50-million flood control project in Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija, is actually completed.

In a letter to DPWH Nueva Ecija District Engineering Office 2 (DEO2) District Engineer Robert Jay N. Panaligan dated 21 October 2025, Ramos said that after previously asserting that the town of Peñaranda has no “ghost project,” he discovered that the flood control project in Barangay Sinasajan remains incomplete.

According to an advisory issued by the DPWH Nueva Ecija 2nd District Engineering Office on 30 September 2025, the project — officially named the Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Alleviating Gaps (SIPAG) Flood Control Mitigation Structures — was valued at P47,999,502.81 and reported to be 97.07 percent completed. The contractor was identified as D.B. Baraquiel Construction, based in Cabanatuan City.

Ramos conducted an on-site inspection of the project on 20 October 2025, accompanied by personnel from the Municipal Engineering Office. Using a drone, they reportedly found no signs of a new flood control structure in the area.

He said that soil appeared to have been used to cover the old project, with no indication of any new infrastructure or materials that could be classified as a flood control system.

A technical report from the municipal government to the DPWH stated that the project was scheduled to begin on 26 December 2024 and be completed by September 2025. However, Ramos said there was no evidence of new construction or materials at the site, including sheet piles or other necessary components.

The mayor has requested that the DPWH and other relevant agencies conduct an investigation to determine the actual status of the project, clarify its implementation, and require D.B. Baraquiel Construction to secure a business permit and pay the corresponding contractor’s fee to the local government unit.

The Peñaranda local government is awaiting an official response from the DPWH Nueva Ecija DEO2 regarding the P50-million flood control project.