DAVAO CITY – Davao City first district Rep. Paolo Duterte slammed ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio over his stance on corruption and flooding issues in Davao City, accusing him of selectively targeting the Duterte family while allegedly ignoring larger national controversies.

In a statement on Tuesday, May 19, Duterte questioned why Tinio was focusing on Davao City rather than raising concerns about alleged irregularities linked to flood control projects under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Duterte claimed the country was currently witnessing what he described as one of the biggest corruption controversies in Philippine history involving personalities associated with the present administration, including Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The Davao City lawmaker questioned why Tinio was not filing complaints against engineers, contractors, and political personalities allegedly linked to questionable flood control projects nationwide.

“Why focus solely on Davao while conveniently ignoring the larger controversies hounding the present administration and its allies?” Duterte said.

Duterte defended infrastructure projects implemented in Davao City, citing records from the Department of Public Works and Highways-Region 11 showing approximately P49.84 billion worth of completed infrastructure projects from 2020 to 2022.

According to Duterte, these projects included roads, drainage systems, bridges, and other public works that continue to benefit the people of Davao. He said that Davao City had received a “zero budget” allocation for four years.

The congressman accused Tinio of promoting “politically motivated accusations” intended to demonize the Duterte family rather than of recognizing the city's infrastructure accomplishments.

Duterte criticized Tinio’s role as ACT Teachers representative, saying the party-list group was supposed to focus on concerns involving educators, classrooms, salaries, and students. Instead, he said, Tinio had allegedly become a “full-time anti-Duterte political operator.”

The Davao lawmaker added that flooding is a national concern that requires long-term engineering solutions, planning, and inter-agency cooperation rather than what he described as political grandstanding.

“Filipinos are intelligent enough to distinguish genuine public service from political theater,” Duterte said.

Tinio asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate P4.4-billion worth of flood control projects in Davao City’s first district for alleged irregularities, including overlapping contracts, double funding, and incomplete project details.

In a letter submitted Tuesday to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, Tinio urged a “thorough investigation” into the projects, particularly through physical inspection of projects reported as incomplete or listed as “100 percent complete but ongoing.”

He said his team reviewed 121 flood control contracts implemented by the DPWH from 2019 to 2022 and found possible red flags in 80 of the projects, totaling billions of pesos.

Tinio's call came after flash floods triggered by prolonged heavy rains from Monday evening (May 18) to Tuesday dawn (May 19) displaced hundreds of families in Davao City.

Heavy rains that poured over the city for nearly five hours caused rivers and creeks to overflow, inundating low-lying areas and forcing residents to evacuate from flood-prone communities.

Areas include Matina Pangi, Matina Crossing, NHA Bangkal, Catalunan Grande, Maa, Bunawan, and communities living near riverside areas.