THE Commission on Audit (CoA) has filed four more fraud audit reports with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), citing more than P351 million in fully paid flood control projects in Bulacan that either do not exist or failed to meet government specifications.
The projects were implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office and awarded to SYMS Construction Trading, Topnotch Catalyst Builders and Triple 8 Construction and Supply, Inc., according to audit documents.
SYMS Construction Trading received P92.69 million for a revetment in Baliuag and another P92.71 million for a flood control structure in Pulilan.
Inspectors, however, reported no new structures at the approved sites, noting that one contained only an abandoned slope protection that predated the project.
Topnotch Catalyst Builders was flagged for a P69.48-million riverbank protection project in Plaridel. CoA said the approved site had no structure, while an alternate location identified by DPWH contained a wall that fell short of specifications.
Triple 8 Construction was fully paid P96.5 million for a river wall in Baliuag, but auditors found no project at the designated site. A structure at the alternative location was deemed substandard.
CoA said several engineers at the DPWH-Bulacan office and company officials could face graft, malversation and falsification charges under anti-graft and procurement laws. The agency added that its list of liable officials could expand as reviews continue.
CoA Chairman Gamaliel A. Cordoba earlier ordered a comprehensive audit of all DPWH flood control projects in Bulacan from July 2022 to May 2025.
The agency has submitted 17 fraud audit reports — nine to the Office of the Ombudsman and eight to the ICI — for possible criminal and administrative prosecution.
Political analysts have cautioned that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s anti-graft push could be dismissed as political theater unless it leads to prosecutions and convictions. Business groups have also pressed for stronger accountability measures.
The scandal centers on irregularities in flood control projects, where about P500 billion has been allocated since 2022.
Mr. Marcos has since created the ICI with powers to recommend criminal, civil and administrative charges in both flood-related and other infrastructure projects.
Critics warn the controversy threatens to weaken disaster-preparedness spending in a country hit by an average of 20 storms a year and widely seen as the world’s most disaster-prone nation.
On Sept. 21, thousands of Filipinos marched in the capital in the biggest protest in years against the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, turning weeks of online outrage over corruption into mass street demonstrations that rattled the political establishment. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking
