ICI finds ‘crime scene' in Davao flood project

Flood works investigators slammed a “ghost project” in Davao Occidental on Wednesday after discovering that a concrete revetment project, which was fully paid three years ago, had just started construction last month.

- EJ MACABABBAD and DIANA LHYD SUELTO

During an inspection of the Culaman Bridge flood control project in Jose Abad Santos town in Davao Occidental, an angry Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon cursed upon discovery of the incomplete project.

"F*** you, why did you pay for an incomplete project?" Dizon told Davao Occidental district engineer Rodrigo Larete when asked about the project's status.

Larete admitted to Dizon that he paid P96.5 million in October 2022 to the revetment’s contractor, St. Timothy Construction Corp. of the controversial Discaya couple, and declared the project complete.

Dizon and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who serves as special adviser and investigator of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), inspected the revetment at Culaman Bridge, which residents said was badly needed because of the nearby school.