421 flood control works validated as ‘ghost’ projects - DPWH

Metro Manila, Philippines - Over 400 flood control projects were validated as “ghost” or non-existent, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said, amid the continuing probe on the alleged pocketing of public funds through infrastructure deals.

In a media briefing on Thursday, Oct. 9, Secretary Vince Dizon said his agency, together with the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces, and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, have validated at least 8,000 projects.

Dizon said the 421 non-existent projects are spread across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao – but majority of the “ghost” structures are in Luzon.

The Cabinet official met with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on Thursday to report the information for the investigating body’s action.

“Our agreement is logical na ‘yung ghost, low hanging fruit iyon e. Meaning, madaling i-establish iyong liability at accountability kapag ghost project…hindi na mahaba ang case buildup noon, hopefully mas mabilis tayong makakapag-file ng mga kaso,” said Dizon.

[Translation: Our agreement is logical, a ghost project is low-hanging fruit. Meaning, it’s easy to establish liability and accountability when it comes to ghost projects. The case buildup won't take long, and hopefully, we’ll be able to file cases more quickly.]

He said these questionable structures include those bagged by the top 15 contractors named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that cornered the most number of projects in the last three years.

The DPWH has yet to provide the dates of the non-existent projects and its estimated value.

Safeguards

In a related development, the ICI asked the DPWH to cut in half the amount for the level of authority (LOA) of agency officials in approving civil works projects.

In a letter, Commission Chairman Andres Reyes urged the agency to reduce the LOA for regional engineering offices to P200 million from P400 million, and P75 million from P150 million at the district level.

The commission said the threshold for LOA was increased under the administration of former DPWH Secretary Manny Bonoan, who quit the agency amid the flood control scandal.

“Ang suggestion ng ICI is kalahatiin ito para sa ganun e ma-control natin ang procurement ng DPWH ng civil works,” ICI executive director Brian Hosaka said.

[Translation: ICI's suggestion is to cut it in half so that we can better control DPWH's procurement of civil works.]