Umalma si Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon sa planong tanggalan ng pondo ang flood control project para sa 2026.
Sa kaniyang pahayag noong Linggo, Agosto 24, 2025, igniit niyang mas magiging kaawa-awa ang mga flood areas kung tuluyang magiging "zero budget" ang nasabing proyekto.
"I don’t think we are in a position to chase headlines on something so important. Kasi mahalaga yung flood control di ho ba? Kumbaga it doesn’t make sense to put zero budget on infrastructure on something that is so fundamental to the lives of climate-risk community," ani Ridon.
Dagdag pa niya, "So yun pong zero budget is something that I think it chases headlines but I don’t think it’s something we need. Kasi ho, kapag zinero mo yung flood control next year, kawawa yung mga nasa kailogan po natin. Kawawa po yung mga nasa danger zones natin. That is the practical impact."
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Matatandaang nasa ₱275 bilyon ang inilaan ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) para sa kontrobersyal na proyekto sa 2026.
Ginawa ring halimbawa ni Ridon ang Marikina hinggil sa pagkakaroon nito ng epektibong flood control, sa kabila ng malawakan umanong talamak na korapsyon ng konstruksyon nito sa iba't ibang lugar sa bansa.
"As we have seen sa Marikina, they have great flood control projects there. Kung saan people were actually, they were expecting to be evacuated. Where they evacuated? But not all of them were evacuated because the flood control in Marikina actually worked," saad ni Ridon.
Hirit pa niya, "We have to be a bit more reasonable about these things. Flood control is something fundamental to climate risk communities. I don’t think it makes sense to zero budget flood control just because we have reservations on how projects were actually implemented in some areas."
Matatandaang nangunguna ang Bulacan sa top 10 provinces sa flood control projects na may 668, sinundan ng Cebu-414; Isabela-341; Pangasinan-313; Pampanga- 292; Albay-273; Leyte-262; Tarlac-258; Camarines Sur-252 at Ilocos Norte na 224.
Patuloy ang imbestigasyon ng Senado laban sa mga kontraktor na nakatanggap nang malalaking pondo para sa nasabing proyekto.
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