From corruption to calamity

Mother Nature has done the job our government should have done – exposing the ill effects of greed and corruption on the lives and livelihoods of our people. And by the looks of it, under Mother Nature’s law, she won’t stop until we’ve learned our lesson.

I write this as another typhoon batters its way into the country on an eerily quiet morning of Nov. 8, a day that also marks 12 years since Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated Tacloban.

In Cebu, now under a state of calamity following the onslaught of Typhoon Tino, the situation is dire.

It is now up to the government to investigate the factors that led to such a tragedy, which is perhaps more man-made than natural. Clearly, the funds for flood control projects in Cebu – some P26 billion since 2022 – were not put to good use.

Speaking in Talisay, Cebu following an inspection on Nov. 5, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said, “Obviously, the flood control projects were poorly planned and poorly executed.”

He was correct in saying that the absence of upstream water catchment systems worsened the situation and that projects should have focused on controlling the flow of water from the mountains before it reached urban areas.

The curious case of the Cebu flood control budget

And here lies the big puzzle: why did the DPWH Regional Office VII, the office in charge of Cebu, allow this to happen?

Why were the budgets allocated to areas that aren’t even prone to flooding? Was there a lack of proper planning, as Dizon said, or the execution was not done right? Or was it simply because the funds were stolen?

Whispers among pundits and kibitzers in Cebu say that it doesn’t make sense that the Cebu 7th District Engineering Office, under DPWH Regional Office VII, got a huge share of the flood control budget – “more than P10 billion,” says a source, “because it’s not even a flood-prone area.”

Surely, Dizon and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) have a lot of investigating to do.

And while he’s at it, he must also pursue the lifestyle check he initiated on the DPWH officials, including those in Cebu. The irony is that while flood control projects in the province were poorly executed, the lifestyles of DPWH executives were far from poor, as Dizon himself is looking into.

The DPWH Regional Office VII is led by regional director Danilo Villa Jr., who is on the list of DPWH officials whom Dizon said are being investigated for their lavish lifestyles. Such lifestyles include the use of chartered planes, Dizon said, as reported by The Freeman.

But it’s not just the use of private jets. DPWH-Cebu insiders also point to Villa’s connections with high-end properties – several, and not just one, I’m told — within the uber-posh residential enclave Maria Luisa Estate Park, among the province’s most coveted addresses.

In 2024, Villa’s wedding reception was held at the sprawling and glittery Solaire Resort in Entertainment City, with prominent principal sponsors including former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan, former lawmaker Zaldy Co and retired DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.

The long guest list included lawmakers, engineers, contractors and many other names in places of power, including Senator Mark Villar, former senator Bong Revilla, former DPWH executives Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza and engineer Allan Quirante of QM Builders.

QM Builders was among the top 15 contractors nationwide that bagged multimillion-peso flood control projects, as revealed by President Marcos.

As I said, Dizon surely has a lot of investigating to do.

It’s comforting to hear him say that flood control projects in Cebu are now under review by the ICI, noting the need for accountability following the loss of lives and destruction of property.

But authorities must work double time. Otherwise, tragedy after tragedy will continue to rip through our country. Mother Nature will keep on showing us what needs to be done.

This was what one video of Compostela in Cebu showed:

Lifeless bodies were laid side by side on the cold pavement, draped in makeshift coverings, their feet left bare to the wind. Cars of all colors, shapes and sizes had been swept away and piled up against each other, their frames twisted and deformed by the raging flood. Survivors were picking up the pieces, trying to salvage whatever was left of their belongings.

It is heartbreaking to watch, knowing that a lot of what led to this were acts of man.

Of course, it’s not only because of poorly planned or poorly executed flood control projects. There’s also the lack of proper urban planning, which has allowed massive structures on riversides and mountainous areas to be developed.

Corruption in the issuance of logging permits, quarrying and environmental clearance certificates is also to blame, but that’s a story I’ll save for another day.

For now, authorities must see this investigation through – not just to name and shame, but to rebuild trust and ensure that this does not happen again.

Cebu’s pain should not fade into another footnote of disaster. We must keep watch. We must stay angry, as PhilStar Life said.

“Stay angry – because what happened in Cebu shouldn’t be OUR normal. Channel your anger into action. Demand accountability. Demand better.”

Mother Nature has spoken, showing us that public funds, when stolen or squandered, can cost real lives.

It’s now up to our leaders to act and show the corrupt that greed will be punished.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB