MANILA, Philippines – Since the southwest monsoon or habagat began last May, residents of Caloocan City have again borne the brunt of what they describe as “substandard” infrastructure projects in their communities.
In June, as heavy rains inundated parts of Metro Manila, the Batang SoCal Facebook page posted a photo of ankle-deep flooding in Libis Espina Street where the road and drainage system had just been “rehabilitated.”
In the comments section of the post, Caloocan residents took turns lambasting the P9.6-million road rehabilitation and drainage system (Phase 3) project in Libis Espina carried out by Dreamworx Builder and Trading Incorporated. The project is situated between Barangay 14 and Barangay 16.
Vegetable and fruit vendor Karen Libiran shared their sentiment. “Nagsasayang lang [sila] ng pera. Hindi rin nawawala ‘yung baha sa pag-aayos nila,” she told Rappler when asked about the recent project in the community.
(They’re just wasting money. The flooding remains even after they finished the project.)
