Controversial flood control project sparks Lolypop-Jonas camp squabble

Local

THE collapse of a P46.9-million flood-control structure in Barangay Paknaan in Mandaue City has sparked a tug-of-war of words between the congressional leader and her predecessor, with both trying to distance themselves from the incident.

In an official statement on Friday, August 29, Mandaue Lone District Representative Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon stressed that the project did not originate during her term.

She pointed out that the flood-control structure was “conceived, funded, and awarded in 2019” when Jonas Cortes still served as Sixth District congressman, before later assuming the post of Mandaue City mayor.

At that time, the city remained part of the broader Sixth District, prior to the creation of its own Lone District.

She said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) should answer for the failed structure because it had full control over procurement, implementation, and oversight.

“Truth must stand unbent: Accountability lies where authorship resides. DPWH, as custodian of execution and oversight, must answer,” Ouano-Dizon declared.

She also warned against what she described as attempts to “rewrite history by innuendo,” stressing that the record clearly traced the project to her predecessor.

While defending herself from criticism, she assured residents that new flood-control projects initiated under her term are designed with improved safeguards to withstand extreme weather conditions.

Former Mandaue City Administrator Atty. Jamaal James Calipayan, immediately countered her statement through a detailed post on social media.

He acknowledged that funding was secured during Cortes’ congressional term from 2016 to 2019 but clarified that the congressional office played no role in selecting contractors, managing procurement, or supervising construction.

According to him, all those responsibilities belonged to DPWH.

“The DPWH District Engineering Office conducted the public bidding in February 2019. The Congressman’s office had no role or participation in selecting contractors or handling procurement,” Calipayan wrote.

He emphasized that construction started on July 9, 2019, already under Ouano-Dizon’s first term as congresswoman.

He also stressed that “no construction activity, procurement payment, or progress billing was approved while Cortes was still in office,” adding that “every peso of funding released by DPWH and every phase of actual construction happened during Lolypop’s watch as Congresswoman.”

Calipayan further defended Cortes by pointing out that the structure had stood for six years before finally collapsing after recent heavy rains, unlike other flood-control structures in the city that, he claimed, already showed defects even before they were turned over.

The DPWH Sixth District Engineering Office confirmed the incident on August 25, reporting that about 15 meters of the 416-meter-long PVC sheet pile structure collapsed after water pressure built up behind it due to continuous rainfall.

Engineers also noted that 130 meters of the structure had been misaligned and tilted, compromising stability.

This latest collapse came just days after another 15-meter section of a separate flood-control structure in Barangay Casuntingan failed on August 15, displacing several families in Sitio Lub-ang.

That earlier incident already prompted Ouano-Dizon to press DPWH for explanations and corrective action.(MyTVCebu)