A prominent health advocate from Oriental Mindoro has launched a scathing attack on what he calls “cancer-like” corruption after a P200-million peso flood control structure in his home province collapsed less than a year after construction.

Dr. Tony Leachon, a Calapan-born cardiologist who served as a DOH special adviser, said the failure of the flood barrier in his province is “a moral and institutional breakdown” that threatened the survival of the island province.

The structure in Barangay Mulawin, Naujan municipality, was found to contain mostly sand with minimal concrete and undersized steel reinforcement during an inspection by Governor Humerlito “Bonz” Dolor.

“My little finger is thicker than the iron used,” Dolor said during the site visit, according to Leachon’s account posted on Facebook.

“I grew up and was educated in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro and thus it means so much to me when your home province has been ravaged by floods and now affected by a cancer like action by DPWH and other hidden entities,” Leachon wrote in a passionate social media post calling for urgent action.

Leachon, who gained prominence advocating tobacco tax reforms before joining the Department of Health in 2023, said the Naujan incident exemplified systemic graft that now threatens Oriental Mindoro’s very existence.

He cited revelations by Senator Panfilo Lacson about a “passing through” contracting scheme where up to 60 percent of project funds disappear through commissions and shortcuts.

“This is not unique to Mindoro, but Mindoro is now paying the price,” wrote Leachon, who resigned from his DOH advisory role in 2024.

The doctor warned that Oriental Mindoro faced potential “extinction” unless elected officials acted decisively on flood control failures.

Leachon also called for independent investigations by the Commission on Audit and Office of the Ombudsman, contractor blacklisting as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and transparent publication of project specifications and costs.

He also demanded urgent reconstruction of failed structures under people-based oversight.

“Are we still relevant? Are we still serving the people – or merely surviving politics?” Leachon asked in his Facebook post.