Warns contractors face criminal, economic sabotage raps
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. blew his top yesterday over a P55.7-million flood control project in Baliuag, Bulacan that he described as a “ghost project,” noting that the government had fully paid for the contract even though not a single meter of work was built.
“Extremely. Well, more than disappointed. I’m actually getting very angry,” Mr. Marcos said after inspecting a supposed reinforced concrete riverwall in Barangay Piel where he found no trace of construction despite records showing it as 100 percent complete as of June.
“Not a single day of work was done. Nothing. And yet they reported it as completed. We can’t see a single hollow block, a single cement bag, no equipment here. This whole project is a ghost project.”
“If that gets flooded, that wall will immediately collapse. It won’t last,” Mr. Marcos added.
He said criminal charges ranging from falsification to economic sabotage can be filed against the contractors of botched flood-control projects.
“For example, this (Baliuag project) is already falsification because they already reported that it was completed. It’s obvious that it’s not yet complete. So that’s falsification. That’s already a big violation,” the President said.
“For the big ones, I’m thinking very hard, we will lodge economic sabotage because economic sabotage is very clear here. There’s a legal team working on that,” he added.
Following his promise in his State of the Nation Address last month to hold accountable those responsible for the anomalous infrastructure deals, the President has been visiting various flood control projects across the country.
For the Baliuag project, the President said his team has yet to locate the official contract, raising suspicions that it passed through multiple layers of subcontractors, making accountability harder to establish.
“This is outright fraud. A project of this scale, P55 million, 220 meters of flood protection, and not a single thing was done,” he said.
“This is not an isolated case. Sadly, there are many more like this. But we will go after them all,” the President added.
Last week the President saw for himself a questionable river protection project in Calumpit, Bulacan, which had been declared finished in official records but was still visibly incomplete.
The river protection structure was built by St. Timothy Construction Corporation, while the flood mitigation structure was constructed by Wawao Builders. The two firms are among the top 15 contractors that secured most of the flood control projects nationwide.
Mr. Marcos flagged the substandard flood control work of the two contractors, citing signs of concrete deterioration caused by their failure to comply with project specifications.
“When you look at the reports submitted to us, everything’s marked as completed…Then, here comes the issue with the quality. It’s very easy to see (it’s substandard),” the President said.
For its part, the Bureau of Internal Revenue on Wednesday said it will investigate the tax compliance of contractors involved in government flood control projects amid allegations of “ghost projects.”
“We will look at the tax compliance of the contractors in connection with the projects as well as their overall tax compliance… We are monitoring the ongoing investigation, and we will ask for documents regarding the said projects so we can check their tax compliance,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada warned that the alleged ghost projects in Bulacan may only be a small part of a bigger web of anomalies.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Estrada said, adding that he does not discount the involvement of state auditors in turning a blind eye in uncovering the non-existent projects.
He said while the Department of Public Works and Highways is primarily responsible for monitoring its own projects, there must be stronger coordination with the Commission on Audit to ensure that public funds are not wasted on fraudulent deals.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos busts P55-m Bulacan ‘ghost project,’ hits contractors”
