ONLY LAST January then-House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. said the flood control project in Candating, Arayat – damaged at the onslaught of Super Typhoon Carina in August 2024 – will be repaired at no cost to the government.
“The project, a 110.2-meter flood mitigation structure, suffered damage due to a combination of natural forces and design vulnerabilities,” said Gonzales, a civil engineer himself.
Emphasizing: “The repair is expected to be completed by April 2025 at no cost to the government, as the project is still under warranty (by the contractor).”
And noting that “Officials are also considering additional measures to prevent future occurrences.”
Only last July, the same flood control project in Candating was again damaged in the wake of the southwest monsoon and series of weather disturbances – the Gonzales-expected repair completion date of April 2025 all too obviously unmet. This, ascertained in the separate site-visits of Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, both finding difficulty, if not impossibility, in seeing whatever repair was undertaken.
Belied there was Gonzales’ claim of “officials… considering additional measures to prevent future occurrences.” It happened, like that excremental slang says. With the stink pervading not only the site but wafting to the contractor, the DPWH, and the House itself.
Face of failure
Yesterday, Aug. 20, the Candating flood control project was inflicted anew upon the national consciousness with the stinging privilege speech of Sen. Ping Lacson.
“The face of failed flood control projects,” said Lacson of Candating, evidenced by the year-after-year program for its rehabilitation uniformly pegged at P100 million, its contract price as uniformly tagged at P91 million, its contract as uniformly awarded to Eddmari Construction and Trading Corp.
Notable in Lacson’s presented graphics is the second entry of P91,485,523 for 2024 – presumably the cost of the repair post-August 2024 damage, and the P100 million for 2025. This evidently putting the lie to Gonzales’ declaration of the repair to be undertaken by the contractor “at no cost to the government.”
How Eddmari Construction still managed to snag the contracts for the same projects after repeated failure, Lacson did not have to say.
Sufficed to prove his point, perhaps, how the original P20 million for the project in 2018, ballooned to over P274.8M in repeated repairs, all awarded to the Eddmari Construction and still collapsing.
The company has a reputation in Pampanga, way beyond the congressional district where the Candating flood control project is sited. Giving rise to all kinds of speculations, malicious ones included.
Gonzales: Fake news
In his press statements last January, then-SDS Gonzales was quick to dismiss any involvement in the Candating project.
“Marami pong fake news ang kumakalat na pilit inuugnay ako at ang aking pamilya sa pagkasira ng dike. Para sa kaalaman ng lahat, wala po akong kinalaman, o ang aking pamilya, sa implementasyon ng programang ito,” he was quoted as saying then.
Clarifying, thus: “Nililinaw ko po na ang tanging kontribusyon ko ay maghanap ng pondo upang magpagawa ng mga mahahalagang proyekto sa ikatlong distrito ng Pampanga, katulad ng Candating dike. Yun lamang po. Malaki po ang pasalamat ko sa DPWH at nasama ang proyektong ito sa kanilang priority programs.”
“And just to set the record straight: hindi po ako ang contractor ng Candating dike. Wala po akong kinalaman, o ang aking pamilya, kung papaano na-implement ang proyektong ito,” said Gonzales whose daughter Mica has since succeeded him to his 3rd District congressional seat.
Foto story
At the time of the August 2024 collapse of the Candating flood control, Gonzales did not figure in any story relating to it. It was the DPWH that veritably stood as the outspoken spokesperson for the contractor that it did not even name then.
“Notwithstanding the posted notices on the P91.485-million project where the contractor was prominently named, there was no mention of it in the DPWH statement issued on Aug 18. And given the gravity of the damage, it was rather uncanny of DPWH to fail – miserably — to even mention what the contractor is bound to do to correct such epic engineering failure, including possible compensation to the households damaged and/or imperiled by the dike collapse; what sanctions it would impose on the contractor, etc. – the usual provisos in contracts, government or private.”
So, we published in Punto! on Aug. 21, 2024. (https://punto.com.ph/unraveling-in-candating/)
Furthered: “In effect, the DPWH stood for the contractor not only as spokesperson but its very front. This, not a few netizens noticed, thereby sending Punto! some photos that they hoped could unravel – even if only partly – the story behind the collapse of the dike in Candating which could impact on the other projects DPWH awarded to this contactor, er, contractor.”
Enough of that saying of a picture’s worth. Shucks.
