Senate public works panel to summon DPWH, MMDA amid unresolved flooding woes
The Senate public works committee is to set to summon Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairperson Romando S. Artes to demand answers on the still unresolved flooding in the country that continues to recur every downpour.
Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., committee chairman, chastised the ineffectiveness of the agencies’ flood control programs despite receiving hefty amounts of annual appropriation on the said program.
"We must sit down and, once and for all, come up with workable and effective solutions," Revilla said.
"What is bothersome is that there is flooding during rains despite the many projects implemented and the billions of pesos spent for flood control projects," he pointed out.
Revilla said Bonoan and Artes have to explain why flooding continues despite the implementation of flood control projects the past several years.
He cited the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) from 2019-2023 where the DPWH received a total of P594.62-billion appropriation for their flood control program while MMDA received P6-billion.
He also expressed disappointment over DPWH’s and MMDA’s inadequate response of merely releasing press statements every time the country would be submerged in flood.
Just last week, the onslaught of severe tropical storm "Egay" hit many parts of the country.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), a total of 2,397,336 people or 654,837 families were affected by the storm.
NDRRMC further reported 425 flooding incidents due to the inclement weather.