DPWH probes Pampanga flood control damage

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will investigate damage to the San Mateo Flood Control Project in Arayat, Pampanga, after an inspection revealed a collapsed road section and damaged sheet piles that could endanger nearby residents.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, Pampanga Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda and Arayat Mayor Jeffrey Luriz inspected the site on Friday and found displaced and damaged sheet piles, along with a portion of the road that had collapsed.

Dizon said the project, completed in 2024, had sustained significant damage despite being only about a year old. The affected portions include a 250-meter stretch of collapsed road and 56 linear meters of damaged sheet piles.

He added that the project remains under warranty, obligating the contractor to repair the defects.

The DPWH will form a joint inspection team with the Pampanga provincial government to determine the cause of the damage and establish whether negligence or violations of construction standards were involved.

“The project is still under warranty. This was a 2024 project, so it is not even five years old. It must be repaired, but the work must be done properly, just as we did in Mindoro,” Dizon said.

“It is really puzzling why it gave way after only a year. We will have the sheet piles extracted and inspected to verify whether they meet the required specifications. They should be 36 meters long. We will check if this is indeed the case. If we find the same violations as in the other case, everyone involved will certainly face imprisonment,” he added.

As part of the investigation, buried sheet piles will be extracted and examined to determine whether they comply with the project’s technical specifications or were substandard.

Project specifications require the sheet piles to be 36 meters long, roughly equivalent to the height of a 10-story building.

Pineda assured residents that the provincial government would not tolerate irregularities in the project’s implementation.

“We assure you that if the sheet piles do not meet the required length, we will immediately file a case, with the approval of our secretary. It will not be just the contractor who will be held accountable; everyone involved will answer for it,” Pineda said.