By CESAR JOLITO III
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has requested an additional P125 million for the completion of a major flood control project in Bacolod City’s Reclamation Area while the construction of a 639-meter diversion channel remains on hold.
DPWH-Bacolod District Engineer Leah Jamero said the original budget of more than P147 million fell short, particularly for the purchase of a motor pump essential for directing floodwaters from surrounding areas straight to the coastline.
The diversion channel is designed to prevent recurring floods in the area, which have long affected residents and businesses.
Jamero assured that once the budget request is approved by the DPWH Central Office, construction will move forward without delay.
She added that the project, identified under a 2019-2020 feasibility study, is part of the city’s long-term flood mitigation plan.
Meanwhile, Jamero reported that Legacy Construction Firm, which has handled several large-scale projects in the past three years, has already completed one flood control project in 2022 and two more in 2023.
Its ongoing project in Barangay Pahanocoy, started in 2024, is now 95 percent complete.
Funding for such projects, she explained, depends largely on the national government’s budget constraints, with priority given to those already approved in planning studies.
Blacklist for erring flood control contractors
Meanwhile, Bacolod City Lone District Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez called for the immediate blacklisting of contractors with a record of unfinished, substandard or grossly delayed flood control projects, saying incompetence and corruption must have “immediate consequences.”
“As the government evaluates these projects, those with a history of poor performance should be temporarily barred from participating in new contracts until they are cleared of wrongdoing,” Benitez said.
He stressed, however, that the next phase must ensure every peso in the flood control budget is spent on projects that genuinely protect lives and property — “not to fill the pockets of the corrupt.”
“Contractors should not be allowed to profit from the misery of our kababayan. Those who fail our people must be shut out from government projects until they prove they can be trusted again,” he said.
Benitez welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s move to publicize the names of contractors involved in flood mitigation works, describing it as the “first real step” in holding accountable those who fail to deliver despite receiving public funds.
The lawmaker said the concrete solutions to flooding begin by identifying those who may have failed to execute projects intended to protect communities.
That will immediately protect the budget from further waste while emphasizing that incompetence and corruption will have immediate consequences, he added.
Earlier, Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya warned erring contractors that they could soon face termination and blacklisting as the city government is stepping up its efforts to hold construction firms accountable for delayed flood control and drainage projects in the city.
“Contractors who fail to perform will not be tolerated. They may be blacklisted from future city government projects,” Gasataya warned.
Two drainage projects are now under review for possible contract termination due to significant delays.
These include drainage projects at Purok Nangka in Barangay 3 and near the Pope John Paul II Tower at the Reclamation Area — both awarded to the same contractor./CJ, WDJ