Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. has brushed off as "fake news" the reports that he or his family was to blame for the damage caused to the flood control project in Candating, Arayat, Pampanga.

Gonzales set the record straight during a recent consultation meeting at the House of Representatives that was attended by officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and local executives.

“Marami pong fake news ang kumakalat na pilit inuugnay ako at ang aking pamilya sa pagkasira ng dike. Para sa kaalaman ng lahat, wala po akong kinalaman, o ang aking pamilya, sa implementasyon ng programang ito,” he said. 

(A lot of fake news are linking me and my family to the damage that occurred on the dike. For everyone's information, neither me nor my family had anything to do with the implementation of this program.)

A part of the 110.2-meter flood control structure collapsed at the height Super Typhoon "Carina" last August.

“Nililinaw ko po na ang tanging kontribusyon ko ay maghanap ng pondo upang magpagawa ng mga mahahalagang proyekto sa ikatlong distrito ng Pampanga, katulad ng Candating dike. Yun lamang po. Malaki po ang pasalamat ko sa DPWH at nasama ang proyektong ito sa kanilang priority programs,” Gonzales said.

(Let me clarify that my only contribution to this was my sourcing of funds for the construction of important projects in the third district of Pampanga, like the Candating dike. That's it. Big thanks to the DPWH for including this projects in their priority programs.)

“And just to set the record straight: hindi po ako ang contractor ng Candating dike. Wala po akong kinalaman, o ang aking pamilya, kung papaano na-implement ang proyektong ito,” reiterated Gonzales, a civil engineer.

(I'm not the contractor of the Candating dike. Neither me nor my family had anything to do with the implementation of this program.)

The contractor was identified as Eddmari Construction and Trading Co.

If anything, the Senior Deputy Speaker bared during the consultation that the damaged portion will be repaired at no cost to the government.

“The repair is expected to be completed by April 2025 at no cost to the government, as the project is still under warranty (by the contractor),” said Gonzales, whose district includes the town of Arayat.

“Officials are also considering additional measures to prevent future occurrences,” he said.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the DENR looked into the incident and concluded that the cave-in “resulted from riverbank failure caused by over-saturation of the underlying soil layers with groundwater brought about by heavy rainfalls from Super Typhoon Carina and enhanced southwest monsoon".