COA flags P279 million flood projects

The Commission on Audit (COA) has uncovered widespread irregularities in four flood control projects in Bulacan worth more than P279 million, citing “ghost” structures, unauthorized relocations and documentation lapses.

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inspects a river wall in project in Baliuag, Bulacan on August 20, 2025. BONGBONG MARCOS VIA FACEBOOK

In four Fraud Audit Reports filed with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), COA said the projects, implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, were “found to contain serious and recurring signs of misuse of public funds.”

These were awarded to Wawao Builders and SYMS Construction & Trading.

COA said its inspection teams, supported by satellite imagery and fraud audit procedures, found that several structures reported as “100% complete” were either missing or located outside approved project sites. In some cases, auditors found structures that had existed years before the contracts were awarded.

Particularly, COA flagged four major issues:

No flood-mitigation or slope-protection structures were found at approved locations despite full payment.

DPWH representatives brought auditors to alternative sites without documentation or written authority.

Some riverbank walls had been built long before the questioned projects, raising concerns that government funds paid for infrastructure already in place.

Missing Statements of Work Accomplished, absent as-built plans, and unsubstantiated site changes undermined project legitimacy.

COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba ordered the fraud audit in August 2025 following public outcry over “ghost” flood control projects in the province from July 2022 to May 2025. He said the new findings reinforce COA’s push for accountability.