Of the 8,000 flood control projects inspected nationwide, 421 turned out to be “ghost projects” or practically non-existent — most of them in Luzon, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon disclosed on Thursday, Oct. 9, as the agency zeroes in on these anomalies to expedite case buildup.
Dizon said ghost projects—those listed as “completed” but found to be missing on-site—are the easiest to cite for liability and accountability, making them the priority in the government’s crackdown on infrastructure fraud.
After spending several days in the field validating flood control projects tagged as completed in agency records, Dizon returned to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) headquarters to report his findings.
With support from the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev, formerly NEDA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP), Dizon said hundreds of supposed flood control projects were found to be non-existent—most of them located in Luzon.
“This is just the initial phase. We won’t release details yet because ICI requested that we zero in on these ghost projects first to allow for proper investigation,” Dizon said in a press conference.
He added that more ghost projects may surface as DPWH continues its inspections.
“I think our agreement [with ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr.] is logical naman din. Na ‘yung ghost projects, ‘yun ang low-hanging fruit yun, meaning, madaling i-establish ‘yung liability and accountability kapag ghost project,” Dizon said.
“Kasi ghost nga eh. Hindi na mahaba ‘yung case build up noon, so mas mabilis tayong makakapag-build, hopefully ng kaso,” he added.
ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka, who joined Dizon in the press conference, called Dizon’s report a “big help” in terms of data and information gathering.
“We will look into those, and kung merong ibang distrito, regions na pwedeng namin tingnan, kumpleto na ang mga dokumento at ebidensya din, puntahan natin ‘yun,” he said.
“Sa lawak ng universe, meaning ng mga proyektong ito, ay nagko-concentrate na tayo ng dahan dahan. Dahil medyo minimal pa ang ating capacity right now… nagkakaroon tayo ng momentum, pabilis nang pabilis na ‘yan ,” Hosaka added. (Joseph Pedrajas)
