COA, not DPWH, should audit flood control projects

The Commission on Audit (COA) and not the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) should audit the government's flood control projects, the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives said yesterday.

- By JOSE RODEL CLAPANO

While welcoming calls to investigate and audit flood control projects following the massive flooding that hit Metro Manila and nearby areas despite billions allocated for flood mitigation, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Rep. Renee Louise Co said they strongly oppose any move to let the DPWH conduct its own investigation.

"The DPWH cannot be trusted to investigate itself when it is neck-deep in these anomalies. This is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse," Tinio said in a joint statement with Co.

"The DPWH is part of the problem, not part of the solution. How will they audit their own ineptitude?" Co added.

Citing the agency's independence and track record in exposing government anomalies, Tinio and Co called on COA to conduct a comprehensive audit of all flood control projects, similar to its work on the pork barrel scam and Vice President Sara Duterte's confidential funds.

"COA has the technical expertise, independence and constitutional mandate to conduct thorough audits. They exposed the PDAF scam, they questioned the confidential funds — they can certainly uncover the truth behind these flood control failures even by just basing from their previous audit reports," Tinio emphasized.

According to COA's 2023 annual audit report (AAR) on DPWH, the agency failed to efficiently implement 3,047 locally funded projects worth a total of P131.57 billion due to inadequate planning, detailed engineering, supervision and monitoring.