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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Disaggregated flood control projects skipped Cabinet review under ₱2.5-billion rule—DOF

Disaggregated flood control projects skipped Cabinet review under ₱2.5-billion rule—DOF

Published Sep 4, 2025 03:27 pm  |  Updated Sep 4, 2025 01:58 pm
Photo shows an unfinished section of a flood-control project along Pampanga River in Barangay Bulusan in Calumpit, Bulacan. (Santi San Juan)
Photo shows an unfinished section of a flood-control project along Pampanga River in Barangay Bulusan in Calumpit, Bulacan. (Santi San Juan)
Most government flood control projects have bypassed comprehensive review under existing rules, as only those costing above ₱2.5 billion were evaluated by the interagency, Cabinet-level Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).
“The current ICC guidelines only require evaluation of projects above the ₱2.5-billion threshold. Thus, most of the existing flood control projects, which were treated individually, did not undergo the ICC evaluation process,” the Department of Finance (DOF) explained in a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
“This results in disaggregated projects, which do not take into account possible flooding impacts to adjacent communities within a single river basin,” the DOF added.
As such, the Economy and Development (ED) Council’s ICC-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC), chaired by Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, has approved a resolution requiring flood control projects within the same river basin to be consolidated, instead of being handled individually, as was the case previously.
This move comes as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered a probe into corrupt flood control projects across the country.
Approved on Aug. 12, the ICC-CC resolution was pushed by the Infrastructure Development Committee’s (InfraCom) Sub-Committee on Water Resources (SCWR) to allow the government to thoroughly review flood control projects and make sure they are ready for implementation.
Under the proposed resolution, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which has been facing budget-related controversies lately related to “ghost” and substandard flood control projects, will serve as the lead agency in submitting aggregated projects to ICC.
“By aggregating flood control and management projects in a single river basin, more of these projects will be subjected to ICC evaluation, particularly in the aspects of technical, environmental, social, and economic viability, among others,” the DOF said.
This measure is expected to improve the quality and preparedness of flood control projects, while promoting a more coordinated and sustainable approach.
After securing ICC-CC approval and InfraCom-CC endorsement, the resolution will be forwarded to the ED Council, which is chaired by the President, for final action.
Recto, who serves as the Marcos Jr. administration’s chief economic manager, had said that growing by six percent could have been attainable for the Philippine economy if flood control projects had not been hijacked by corruption, slashing as much as ₱119 billion in economic output.
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