Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 10) —The construction of a major flood control project in Pampanga and Bulacan may start in 2025, with the engineering design process beginning as early as next year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Tuesday.
\”As I’ve said, the detailed engineering design will be implemented in 2024… I think towards the end of 2025, well middle or later of 2025, we can start civil works. Malaki po ito eh [This is big],\” DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said during the Senate deliberations of its proposed 2024 budget.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said the officials were surprised to find out that the floodway project is not included in the proposed 2024 National Expenditure Program of the DPWH.
Bonoan explained that the Pampanga Floodway and San Antonio Swamp Ring Dike Project will be financed by the Asian Development Bank. He added that the projects is estimated to be about ₱150 billion.
\”[In the] feasibility study we have done a preliminary design, that is why it’s 60 kilometers and 400 meters, but the actual structural design will have to be undertaken…This will be under the infrastructure preparation and innovation facility that is now being arranged by the Department of Finance,\” Bonoan said.
It will run from the mouth of the San Antonio Swamp through seven Pampanga towns: Arayat, Santa Ana, Mexico, Santo Tomas, Minalin, Macabebe, and Masantol.
When asked about the quality assurance of the project, Bonoan assured that it will undergo hazard tests.
\”Absolutely, this is going to be a mega project,\” he said. \”This is going to be a well-engineered project… I don’t think the Asian Development Bank will allow us to implement without hazard [tests] at this point. They’re going to invest.\”
