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Bonoan vows intensive audit on damaged dikes in Oriental Mindoro

Bonoan vows intensive audit on damaged dikes in Oriental Mindoro

GMA Network2 days ago
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan on Tuesday vowed that the agency would conduct an intensive audit on the damaged dikes in Oriental Mindoro.
''I want to know sino ba ang contracting office nito, sino nag-supervise, sino nangontrata. Titingnan namin ito, bubusisiin namin. We have to go through an intensive audit, technical and financial audit on these particular projects in Mindoro,'' Bonoan said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
(I want to know who's the contracting office, who supervised, who entered into the contract. We will scrutinize this. We have to go through an intensive audit, technical and financial audit on these particular projects in Mindoro.)
Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito 'Bonz' Dolor expressed his dismay over the damaged dikes in his province, which was hit by floods due to the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat and the consecutive storms last month, even as these were put up fairly recently.
Over the weekend, Dolor inspected several dikes, including one in Mulawin, Naujan, where a security guard initially refused to let officials enter, as he said he received orders from the management not to let anyone in without a written request from the DPWH.
The governor also inspected another flood control project in Barangay Tagumpay in Naujan, which he said cost P1 billion for one kilometer, noting that he only saw one piece of metal rod, a waste of funds when compared with the Capitol's P2-billion budget for a year.
Oriental Mindoro is one of the flood-prone areas recently cited by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., who has ordered a review of the flood control projects across the country.
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, Marcos warned government personnel who steal public funds—such as those for flood control projects—to have some shame.
Marcos had launched a website for citizens to report on flood control projects. He said 20% of the P545-billion budget for flood control projects was awarded to only 15 contractors, five of whom have contracts across the country. —KG, GMA Integrated News
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