At least 52 questionable flood control projects were carried out in 30 of the 51 barangays in Malolos City by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st Engineering District from 2022 to 2025, according to an audit conducted by local officials and residents.
Based on the findings of the Malolos City People’s Audit Team (MCPAT), completed on October 3, only 54 out of the 106 projects they inspected were either completed (27) or ongoing (27).
The rest were considered nonexistent or “ghost” projects, as they could not be located, while others were either found to have substandard materials, incomplete, or with a reduced project scope.
Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad, who leads the MCPAT, said they already submitted to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) the 1,800-page “Summary of Flood Control Projects Inspection Report” report that compiled the descriptions, narratives, and photos of all 106 flood control projects in the city.
MCPAT, which Natividad created through Executive Order No. 39 on Aug. 29, is composed of the legal and engineering heads of the Malolos City government, along with over 1,000 volunteers, including business leaders, professionals, residents, and even law enforcement units.
They were assisted by all 51 barangay captains who, with the help of residents, inspected rivers, irrigation sites, and other prospective flood control project locations.
Natividad said that among the contractors for the projects the MCPAT inspected were Wawao Builders and SYMS Construction, which had been blacklisted by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon for their involvement in anomalous flood control structures, mostly in Bulacan.
He said that one of the things that stood out in their audit involved the small coastal barangay of Calero. Despite having only 100 households, there were 13 flood control projects in the area with a combined cost of P1.4 billion.
According to the mayor, he ordered all suspected ghost and incomplete projects to be declared “crime scenes,” as he also directed all village officials to ban all construction activities, which would just be attempts to cover up suspected anomalies.
“We are expecting that after this, all those behind the projects will face the necessary charges and that this becomes a precedent so that no similar offenses, crime, or violations will be committed again. The findings of the people of Malolos through our MCPAT can serve as sworn affidavits in filing the necessary charges, as Justice Andres Reyes of the ICI informed us,” Natividad said.
