MANILA — In a move to protect public funds, Senator Risa Hontiveros received confirmation from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that taxpayers should not bear the cost of failed or substandard flood control projects. Instead, contractors responsible for such anomalies must shoulder the expenses.

The assurance came during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing investigating irregularities in flood control infrastructure. Hontiveros pressed DPWH officials on the enforcement of warranties and accountability mechanisms, emphasizing that the financial burden of correcting defective projects should not fall on the public.

“Gusto ko lang pong i-remind lahat at ang department, na hindi dapat taongbayan ang gumastos ng doble kapag palpak yung flood control project,” Hontiveros said.

DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral responded by outlining existing warranty policies. She explained that infrastructure projects are subject to warranty periods, during which any defects must be corrected by contractors at no cost to the government. Failure to comply results in penalties, including the withholding of final billing and retention money.

Cabral clarified that flood control projects, classified as semi-permanent structures, carry a five-year warranty, while permanent structures like bridges are covered for 15 years.

“So within the five years, kapag po nasira o nakitang substandard or ghost, it should not take five years to see or unsee a ghost project na flood control,” Hontiveros stressed.

In a show of support, Cabral endorsed Hontiveros’s proposed “1-strike” or “0 tolerance” policy, which seeks to bar contractors involved in fraudulent or grossly substandard infrastructure projects from future engagements. She also backed the senator’s “Doble gastos, doble danyos” (double expense, double penalty) policy, which would require erring contractors to pay twice the cost for both construction and repairs.

Hontiveros vowed to monitor the DPWH’s commitments closely, ensuring that contractors behind anomalous projects are held accountable and that public funds are safeguarded.

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