The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) branded as useless the ₱774-million pumping station in Manila which was built supposedly to mitigate flooding in nearby communities.

DPWH Secretary Vince B. Dizon said the flood control project,  completed in 2020 and located in Tondo, was useless from the start due to repeated breakdowns, adding that the costly repairs even failed to make it operational.

“This is worse. Kasi useless from the beginning, nagbayad ka nang buo, hindi gumagana, walang naitutulong ito, baka nakakasama pa kasi nagbabara pa lalo yung tubig dito. Tapos repair nga siya nang repair, balewala naman kasi hindi pa rin umaandar (This is worse because it has been useless from the beginning—you paid in full, but it does not work and does not help; it might even make things worse because water gets clogged here. Even with repeated repairs, it remains pointless because it still will not run),” Dizon said.

Dizon led the inspection of the project with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) Special Adviser Benjamin Magalong.

Dizon said a review of the project revealed that there was no independent third-party evaluation has been carried out since the facility’s completion.

Government documents showed a fresh ₱94-million allocation for repairs on top of warranty-covered fixes—an expense Dizon described as part of a flawed system.

He said another ₱200 million was being proposed for additional works, prompting him to order a third-party assessment to determine the exact defects and the real cost of restoring the station.

“Nakakapagod na ito. Ang sabi nila kailangan pa ng dagdag na 200 million. So ang gagawin namin dito, magpapa-third party assessment kami. Para alam ko na talaga, ano ba talaga ang kailangang gawin para maayos na ‘to once and for all (This is exhausting. They say an additional ₱200 million is still needed. What we will do is commission a third-party assessment so I will truly know what exactly needs to be done to fix this once and for all),” he said.

Dizon directed DPWH-National Capital Region (DPWH-NCR) to coordinate with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) instead of repeatedly approving piecemeal repairs that consume millions in public funds.

“Hindi na puwedeng paulit-ulit. Ang mga ganitong proyekto, dapat sinisiguradong gumagana—hindi lang basta naitayo at nabayaran (This cannot keep happening. Projects like these must be ensured to work—not only to be constructed and paid for),” he stressed.