TYPHOON Tino’s flash floods killed more than 100 people and displaced thousands across Metro Cebu, an all-too-familiar tragic outcome for the island province. However, the resulting devastation has brought a staggering question into sharp relief: How could this happen after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) implemented 179 flood control projects on four major rivers from 2016 to 2025, worth an estimated P17.44 billion?
The disaster is less a natural one and more a man-made catastrophe, fueling a public demand for accountability over massive public works spending and alleged substandard projects.
The core event
Early Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, Typhoon Tino unleashed torrential rain, causing the Butuanon, Mananga, Cansaga, and Cotcot rivers to overflow. Flash floods quickly submerged areas in Cebu City, Talisay City, Mandaue City, Liloan and Consolacion, resulting in a minimum of 90 fatalities and widespread destruction. The calamity is already being described as one of the worst flood events in Cebu’s recent history.
According to data from the DPWH website, P12.48 billion was disbursed from 2016 to 2022, with an additional P4.96 billion implemented from 2022 to 2025. These projects, funded under the General Appropriations Act, were intended to protect lives and properties and enhance waterway resilience across Metro Cebu and neighboring towns.
Now, Cebuanos are demanding accountability for the failed flood control projects implemented in these major waterways.
Flood control projects: A systemic failure
The Butuanon River, one of Metro Cebu’s most flood-prone waterways, running through Cebu City down to Mandaue City, received the largest share of funding at more than P11.10 billion. Projects from 2016 to 2025, handled by contractors including BNR Construction & Development Corp., Quirante Construction Corp. and ZLREJ Trading & Construction Corp., aimed to decongest water flow and reduce urban flooding.
Yet on Tuesday, floodwaters from the Butuanon River overflowed in Umapad, Paknaan and other parts of Mandaue City. In Cebu City’s Barangay Bacayan, a viral video captured the terrifying moment when floodwaters surged through the Villa del Rio Subdivision as the river unexpectedly diverted, dragging vehicles and debris.
Mananga River: Located between Talisay and Cebu City, the river received around P2.39 billion for riverbank rehabilitation and structural protection, with major contractors including QM Builders and Quirante Construction Corp. However, shanties under and on the sides of the Mananga Bridge in Talisay City were destroyed by the strong current. The calamity is already considered one of the worst flood events in Cebu in recent history.
Cotcot River: Projects in Liloan and Compostela totaled roughly P268.5 million for flood mitigation structures. During the storm, floodwaters rose above the banks, submerging homes and farmlands.
Cansaga River: Linking Consolacion and Mandaue, the river saw more than P312 million in infrastructure works, including revetment and channel improvements.
“Ghost and substandard” projects alleged
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, expressed her palpable frustration over the fact that despite over P26 billion allotted for flood controls for Cebu Province, “we are flooded to the max.”
It’s noted that Cebu ranks second among provinces with the highest number of flood control projects (414), despite not being listed among the country’s top 10 flood-prone areas.
In an interview on Wednesday, Nov. 5, Baricuatro asserted her belief that there are alleged ghost and substandard flood control projects in the province. She revealed that her administration discovered irregularities dating back to 2019, including contractors allegedly using borrowed licenses from other firms. These findings have already been submitted to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.
Describing the devastation as the “worst flash flood in Cebu’s history,” the governor called for national aid, financial assistance for evacuees and urgent transparency on public works spending. “We need accountability,” she stressed.
The role of unchecked development
In Liloan, Mayor Aljew Frasco stated that the waters that inundated his town came from the upland areas of Cebu City that rushed down. Frasco said floodwaters rose rapidly, submerging parts of national highways and reaching the roofs of two-story homes in what elderly residents called the “worst flooding” in their lifetime.
This rush of water highlights an additional, overlooked factor: unchecked development.
In the last two decades, Cebu has lost more than 10,000 hectares of forest cover, and about 19,000 hectares of land have been opened for quarrying and mining operations. Netizen Erika Nicole wrote that the province’s mountains are now “bald and weakened” due to overdevelopment, drastically reducing the land’s ability to absorb rainwater.
Public outrage: An end to the “Bangon Mentality”
In the aftermath, social media exploded with anger and demands for justice. The public outrage has shifted from accepting a natural disaster to calling out corruption that resulted in poor and failed infrastructure.
Crucially, there is a unified call to end the “bangon mentality” — the resigned attitude of simply bouncing back after a disaster.
“No more Bangon Mentality!” wrote Welgie Navarro. “People stayed alert and prepared, but the water keeps rising — and so does corruption.”
Anna Vivar’s viral post condemned government officials as “parasites who bragged about flood control projects that never worked.”
Lei Plando-Benolirao called the fiasco the “greatest corruption of all time.”
Cebuanos across the province are echoing the same outrage: this was not simply a natural disaster but a man-made catastrophe fueled by greed, neglect, and incompetence. The criticism has even extended to contractors, who were slammed for what some viewed as token gestures, such as reports of P1,000 cash handouts to flood victims. / EHP, JJL, CDF