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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Abante: Floods persist in Davao City despite P51-B infrastructure funds

Abante: Floods persist in Davao City despite P51-B infrastructure funds

Published Aug 31, 2025 03:08 pm

At A Glance

  • Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. highlighted that Davao City remains prone to heavy flooding despite the allocation of at least P51 billion worth of infrastructure funds there.
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. (left), Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo "Pulong" Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. (left), Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo "Pulong" Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)


Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. highlighted that Davao City remains prone to heavy flooding despite the allocation of at least P51 billion worth of infrastructure funds there.
Abante had this to say amid Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo "Pulong" Duterte and Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte's tirades on the House of Representatives' upcoming investigation on the flood control projects controversy.
“I think he received P51 billion in the three years that he was a congressman during his father’s time,” Abante said in an online interview over the weekend, referring to Rep. Duterte.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) confirmed that P51 billion was allocated to infrastructure projects in the first district of Davao City from 2020 to 2022. This covered the final three years of former president Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang.
As to Rep. Duterte’s claim that there are no flood control structures collapsing in Davao City, Abante said, “Well, that is very good, no? But I was told that there are about 250 areas in Devao City that actually were flooded. I do not know kung humuhupa agad ‘yung, no (I do not know if it subsided immediately), But it is flooded.”
Abante, the overall chairman of the quad-committee (quad-comm) in the 20th Congress, clarified that he was not accusing Rep. Duterte of anything.
“I have never accused him of any ghost project. I have never accused him of any substandard project,” he added.
However, the House leader pointed out that he did not like the statement of Rep. Duterte’s brother, Mayor Duterte, that the investigation ordered by President Marcos into failed flood control projects was just a “PR (public relations) stunt".
He added that the city’s acting mayor should ask his congressman-brother what happened to the billions in infrastructure funds that include flood control appropriated for Davao city during their father’s time.
"So sabi ko (So I said) why don't you talk to your brother who received that much amount of money to find out what happened to the flood control projects that he had. P51 billion yan (That’s P51 billion),” Abante stressed.
He said the flood control investigation, to be conducted by a joint panel chaired by Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, begins this Tuesday, Sept. 2 and will cover Davao City as well as other areas in Mindanao.
“I would be thinking that he's going to start with Benguet…or Bulacan…then he goes to Davao City,” said Abante.
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