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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Makabayan says COA, not DPWH, must audit flood control projects

Makabayan says COA, not DPWH, must audit flood control projects

Published Jul 31, 2025 12:23 pm  |  Updated Jul 31, 2025 03:49 pm

At A Glance

  • Makabayan lawmakers on Thursday, July 31, said it should be the Commission on Audit (COA)--and not the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)--that should investigate and audit the controversial flood control projects in the country.
Makabayan lawmakers on Thursday, July 31, said it should be the Commission on Audit (COA)--and not the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)--that should investigate and audit the controversial flood control projects in the country.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said that the DPWH can no longer be trusted "when it is neck-deep in these anomalies".
"This is like asking the fox to guard the hen house," he said.
"Ang DPWH ay kasama sa problema, hindi bahagi ng solusyon. Paano nila i-audit ang sarili nilang kapalpakan (DPWH is part of the problem, not of the solution. How are they going to audit their own failures)? It would be a whitewash, pure and simple," added Assistant Minority Leader and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co.
The two lawmakers then called on COA to take the lead, as they said that the agency had "the technical expertise, independence, and constitutional mandate to conduct thorough audits".
"They exposed the PDAF scam, they questioned the confidential funds—they can certainly uncover the truth behind these flood control failures even by just baimg.from their previous audit reports," they said.
"We call on COA to conduct a comprehensive audit of all flood control projects, similar to their work on the pork barrel scam and VP Sara Duterte's confidential funds. COA has proven its independence and capability in exposing government anomalies," they added.
During the 2025 budget deliberations last year,, ACT Teachers grilled DPWH on flood control issues as it raised concerns about the effectiveness and transparency of their projects.
"Noong mga budget deliberations pa lang, pinupunto na namin ang mga kakulangan sa (During budget deliberations, we already saw what's lacking in) flood control projects. Now we see the catastrophic results—billions wasted while people suffer," Co stated.
Tinio and Co then urged the Congress to pass a resolution directing COA to conduct an immediate and comprehensive audit of all DPWH flood control projects from 2016 to the present.
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