PAMPANGA, Philippines – Residents of Barangay Candating in Arayat are demanding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. personally inspect a flood control project that was supposed to protect them from disaster but instead collapsed in August 2024, leaving families exposed to flooding and raising questions over nearly ₱275 million in government spending.
The project, officially called the Rehabilitation of the Eroded Bank of Pampanga River in Candating, Arayat, was awarded to Edmarri Construction and Trading, which bagged ₱91 million in 2023, ₱182 million in 2024, and another ₱100 million in 2025.
But despite the massive allocation, residents said the structure failed catastrophically, exposing what they called another possible case of substandard or “ghost-like” infrastructure.
‘Taxpayers’ money wasted, lives endangered’
Six barangay kagawads – Joseph Hipolito, Manny Mariano, Jace Pineda, Riza Guttierez, Arnold Alicuman, and Gonzalo Mesa – issued a public letter urging a fair and independent probe into the project’s collapse.
“Ito ay napakalaking halaga ng pera ng ating bayan na nasayang lamang at higit sa lahat ay nagdulot pa ng perwisyo at kapahamakan sa aming mga kabaryo,” the councilors wrote.
(This is a huge amount of our people’s money that went to waste, and worse, it brought harm and danger to our communities.)
The Candating officials said the project not only failed its purpose but also put lives at risk during heavy rains. ” Iyong po nilagay nila sheet pile putol at hindi buo ” barangay resident said
Linked to power players in Congress
Records show the Candating flood control project was identified as a priority infrastructure by former Senior Deputy Speaker and now Special Adviser to the Speaker (SAS) Pampanga lawmaker Dong Gonzales, who has been linked to the so-called “Big Six” in Congress – lawmakers allegedly manipulating flood control funds in coordination with House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Edmarr Construction and Trading, the contractor behind the Candating project is the brother in law of 4th district Congresswoman Anna York Bondoc Sagum.
The issue comes as Marcos himself vowed accountability in infrastructure projects after earlier blasting a ₱50-million ghost flood control project in Baliuag, Bulacan, where a contractor was paid for a facility that never existed.
A pattern of failed flood control?
For Candating residents, the collapse of their flood protection wall is part of a troubling pattern in flood control spending — projects announced with fanfare, awarded billions, but failing to deliver real safety for communities.
They now want Marcos to see the situation firsthand.
“Mr. President, we ask you to come and witness what happened here in Candating,” said one barangay leader, “so that those responsible for this waste of funds and betrayal of public trust will be held accountable.”
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has yet to issue a statement on the collapse.