Two DPWH Engineers Removed After Man Dies in Pampanga Drainage Canal

Two Pampanga district engineers have been removed from their posts after a 25-year-old man fell into an open drainage canal and died during flooding in Angeles City.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon relieved Pampanga 3rd District Engineer Aser Mallari and Assistant District Engineer Augustin Dagsaan Jr., both officers in charge, effective immediately on September 6. The canal formed part of a Department of Public Works and Highways project along Fil-Am Friendship Highway in Barangay Cutcut.

Reiner Novero fell into the opening on August 28 while it was submerged by floodwater. The department said Mallari and Dagsaan allegedly failed to ensure road safety measures that could have prevented the incident. Witnesses told GMA News that deep water and a strong current obscured the opening. Novero’s body was recovered about an hour later, away from the place where he fell.

“In view of your failure to comply with the required safety standards, among other infractions, you are hereby relieved of your duties,” Dizon wrote in a memorandum to the two officials. The department said the action followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to enforce safety and quality standards in public works projects and hold officials accountable when they neglect their duties.

The department had earlier relieved a maintenance official in the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office over alleged negligence and a delayed response during disasters. Pampanga remained among the areas heavily flooded in August after days of southwest monsoon rains. The state weather bureau PAGASA forecast light to moderate and occasional heavy rain in several Pampanga areas on September 7.

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In view of your failure to comply with the required safety standards, among other infractions, you are hereby relieved of your duties