PAMPANGA, Philippines – Residents of Barangay Candating in Arayat are demanding accountability after a flood control project — funded five separate times from 2018 to 2025 with nearly ₱295 million in public money — collapsed, leaving families exposed to disaster and raising red flags over how flood control funds are cornered by political power players.
The project, officially called the Rehabilitation of the Eroded Bank of Pampanga River in Candating, Arayat, Pampanga, was first funded in 2018 at ₱20 million. Since then, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has repeatedly allocated more funds:
₱20 million in 2018 (initial contract)
₱91 million in 2023
₱182 million in 2024 (two contracts at ₱91 million each)
₱100 million in 2025
The contracts were awarded to Edmarri Construction and Trading, a firm owned by the brother-in-law of Congresswoman Anna York Bondoc-Sagum of Pampanga’s 4th District.
‘Lives endangered, taxpayers betrayed’
Six barangay kagawads – Joseph Hipolito, Manny Mariano, Jace Pineda, Riza Guttierez, Arnold Alicuman, and Gonzalo Mesa – signed a letter demanding an independent probe into why the project collapsed despite such massive funding.
“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,” they said. (This is a huge amount of our people’s money that went to waste, and worse, it brought harm and danger to our communities.)
Residents said the structure, instead of protecting them from floods, failed catastrophically, exposing what they called another possible case of “substandard or ghost-like” infrastructure.
Linked to Congress’ flood control ‘Big Six’
Records show the Candating project was identified as a priority infrastructure by former Pampanga lawmaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., who has been linked to the so-called “Big Six” in Congress.
The group of lawmakers has been accused of manipulating DPWH flood control allocations in coordination with House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s office, steering projects toward contractors with political ties.
The Candating fiasco comes as President Marcos earlier condemned a ₱50-million ghost flood project in Baliuag, Bulacan, where funds were released but no facility existed.
Pattern of failed flood control projects
For Candating residents, the collapse is not an isolated case but part of a pattern of failed flood control spending across Pampanga and Central Luzon.
“Mr. President, we ask you to come and witness what happened here in Candating,” one barangay leader urged, “so that those responsible for this waste of funds and betrayal of public trust will be held accountable.”