Statement of Cebu Gov. Pam Baricuatro Amid Province Left Devastated by Typhoon Tino
Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro lamented the deadly flooding amid the supposed P26 billion fund allotted for the flood control projects.
Several cities in Cebu were left greatly-devastated by Typhoon Tino which crossed the Visayas region before it head to Palawan and exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). In Cebu, it caused massive flooding that reached the roof of the single-storey homes.
Countless Filipino families had to be evacuated. Unfortunately, the Typhoon Tino’s death toll continues to increase amid the ongoing search and rescue operations. The heavy downpour caused the dams to overflow and it greatly contributed to the massive flooding that caused the drowning of many people.
Cebu Gov. Pam Baricuatro and the provincial and local government are faced with another huge challenge of helping the residents recover and exerting efforts to prevent such flooding from happening again. The Governor could not help but lament the flooding as she cited the multi-billion funds allotted for the flood control projects.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Cebu Gov. Pam Baricuatro claimed that the flood control projects in the province since 2019 were allegedly either substandard or ghost. According to her, they already inspected the flood mitigation projects and submitted a report to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure or ICI.
“You began to ask the question kung bakit grabe yung flash floods dito when we have P26.6 billion for flood control projects,” the Cebu Gov. told ANC.
Based on the report, Baricuatro also claimed that the investigation found that some contractors allegedly used the licenses of other firms in building the flood control infrastructures. She stressed that the recent flooding is one of the worst flash flood in the history of the province.
“It was by far the worst flash flood caused by a typhoon in the history of Cebu. In less than 10 minutes, the water rose dramatically,” she said.
Following the series of calamities hitting several areas in the Philippines, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. called on the government agencies to hold “simple Christmas and year-end celebrations”.