TWO Mindanao provinces, including Maguindanao and North Cotabato, have been identified among the country’s 10 most flood-prone areas, even as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered a comprehensive investigation into the government’s multibillion-peso flood control program.
Speaking at a Palace press conference on Monday, August 11, 2025, Marcos Jr. unveiled sumbongsapangulo.ph, a new public website that maps ongoing flood control projects and allows citizens to submit reports on irregularities. The move follows his directive in his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) last month to audit the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) flood mitigation program, one of the largest line items in the national budget.
“We have to clean our ranks. It might be a little painful baka masangkot diyan yung ibang malapit sa atin. Pero kahit malapit sila sa atin, mas malapit siguro sa puso natin ang taumbayan,” he said.
During the briefing, the leader reported initial findings on flood control projects from July 2022, totaling P545 billion in spending. While there are 2,409 contracting entities nationwide, a fifth of the total amount, about P109 billion, went to just 15 contractors. Of these, five have contracts spanning the entire country, which the President described as “highly unusual” in the construction sector.
He also flagged that 6,021 projects worth over P350 billion were recorded with no details on the type of flood control structure being built — whether dikes, drainage systems, pumping stations, or other works.
“You would intuitively say that the areas most flood-prone should have the most projects. Pero parang hindi tumutugma,” he said.
Another irregularity noted was that of the country’s 170 pumping stations, 157 are in Metro Manila, where many are rendered ineffective by garbage accumulation in waterways.
He also cited multiple projects in different locations with exactly the same contract price. “Imposible ‘yan… for one barangay, even if they are next to each other, to have the exact same project, to the exact same amount, with the exact same contractor?” he said.
Marcos stressed the importance of public participation in the probe. “This whole process will not work unless people are involved… 80 million, 90 million pairs of eyes are better than all the eyes in the entirety of government,” he said.
The sumbongsapangulo.ph platform allows users to search flood control projects within their areas and report whether projects are completed, substandard, stalled, or non-existent.
“Kung maganda ang naging project, kung hindi naging maganda ‘yung project, bakit hindi naging maganda, anong naging problema… That’s what this website is supposed to do,” Marcos said, adding: “Ako mismo ang babasa ng bawat isa.”
By number of flood control projects, the top provinces were Bulacan, Cebu, Isabela, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Albay, Leyte, Tarlac, Camarines Sur, and Ilocos Norte. This list, however, does not match the list of the most flood-risk provinces, namely: Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Oriental Mindoro, and Ilocos Norte.
The President clarified that the initial findings do not yet constitute formal charges but vowed that those proven to have taken advantage of the system “will pay.” DEF