City Council looks into anti-flood program: Delayed projects

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is looking into the delay in the implementation of several projects aimed at solving the city’s flooding problem.

Some of the projects – which have funding of at least P8.2 billion – form part of a drainage master plan for the city. This was disclosed by the Cebu City District Engineering Office in an executive session yesterday, Jan. 24, 2024.

Representatives of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were invited to the executive session by the City Council to shed light on the drainage plan that was presented in 2004.

The city's Engineering Office was also invited to apprise the council on the matter due to the absence of updates on the plan.

In an interview with the media after the executive session, Earl Carlo Escanuela of the Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) - Flood Control Management Cluster (FCMC) said that the study was conducted in 2017, and that four out of the 22 projects were already started and are now actually ongoing.

According to him, the projects were initiatives of their office, with a budget totaling P8.2 billion.

Among the projects that are now ongoing are the Lahug River Improvement with a budget equivalent to at least P573 million; Guadalupe River Improvement, P700 million budget; Kinalumsan River Improvement, P614 million budget; and the Bulacao River Improvement with P1.2 billion budget.

Escanuela explained that the drainage master plan has a ten-year implementing duration. He, however, clarified that this is only a “standby” project adding that it is the prerogative of the city government should they decide to implement it.

In a separate interview with the media, Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the Committee on Infrastructure, said the P8.2 billion budget appropriation is based on the study conducted by the DPWH.

According to him, among the challenges faced that has caused the delay of the project is the acquisition of the road-right-of-way.

“Along the way man gud ang mga challenges kay kung padung na sa upstream daghan na kaayong mga encroachment sa atong mga natural creeks nga sap ag identify naa nay mga private claimants..ilang mga structure naa nasa mga three-meter easement,” said Guardo.

According to him, due to the said challenges during the implementation of the master plan of the drainage system, there were contractors that were canceled or terminated, while some plans were not even implemented.

Currently, Guardo said they are focusing on the acquisition of the road-right-of-way as the request for civil works will follow immediately. According to him, the implementation of the said projects began way before the pandemic.

Another flood mitigation program

During the executive session, the implementation of the P1.3 billion worth Flood Control Program that was awarded to A.M Oreta Co during the Labella administration was also tackled.

Councilor Guardo, in an interview with the media, said that A.M Oreta Co representatives have been invited to appear before the council for several sessions already to shed light on the delays of its civil works despite having been awarded the project during the administration of the late Mayor Edgardo Labella.

“Ang mga information nga na gather namo, it would enlighten us nga mao diay ni hinungdan, mao ni ang causes while the city government have earmarked the P1.3 billion drainage master plan and then the executive department were able to conduct the bidding process, unya they awarded the contract to the contractor,” said Guardo.

Representatives of A.M. Oreta were invited to an executive session last Dec. 20, 2023, but they failed to show up due to the confusion of the schedule which was supposedly Dec. 16, 2023.

However, Guardo added that the City Council found out that the decision-making of the project is already with the executive department.

According to Guardo, Mayor Michael Rama released an executive order that creates a special body which task is to oversee previous contracts entered by the city and to assess if they were implemented.

“They submitted a report to the City Legal as well, so we will see how the executive department will work or implement or whether they will conduct a study,” said Guardo.

“At least on our side, nakabalo mi naa, for the purpose of transparency, there was really a direction for that project to be implemented,” he added.

Echoing the concerns of the Cebu City Council, Guardo said that they would want the project to be implemented since it would be a big help to mitigate the flooding problem of the city.

“But then again it is in the hands of the executive since they are the one who conducted the bidding,” said Guardo.

During the previous executive sessions, Guardo reiterated that the A.M Oreta showed willingness to implement the project, adding there were “valid reasons” that caused the delay. Among these, is the unavailability of the data being provided during the planning stage.

Further, Guardo said they will now be sitting down with the executive department to discuss the direction of the project. He added that investigation is also ongoing to get to the bottom of the matter.

Guardo also stressed that they have faith on the reputation of A.M Oreta ‘as a well-established construction company.’

“I don’t think magpakaulaw sila nga dili nila i-implement ang kining project sa city,” said Guardo.

Guardo also said that among the challenges that A.M Oreta have faced is the change of administration, which corresponds to changing of engineers that would handle the project.

Accordingly, there were documents that were also not properly turned over hence the delay of the implementation.

“I hope that the executive would reconsider kay they have conducted their own investigation,” said Guardo. - /ATO (FREEMAN)