Marilyn Cahatol

Various flood-mitigating structures in Barangay Meyto, Calumpit, Bulacan, remain unfinished, as seen in these photos taken on September 10, 2025. SumbongSaPangulo.ph listed seven flood control projects in Barangays Meyto and San Jose, Calumpit, Bulacan—worth hundreds of millions of pesos and supposedly completed between 2023 and 2024 under the Bulacan First District Engineering Office, which is under scrutiny for alleged ghost projects in the province. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

FLOOD CONTROL PROBE - CALUMPIT

Job Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176136111714420250910-flood-control-barangay-meyto-JC0465.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Various flood-mitigating structures in Barangay Meyto, Calumpit, Bulacan, remain unfinished, as seen in these photos taken on September 10, 2025. SumbongSaPangulo.ph listed seven flood control projects in Barangays Meyto and San Jose, Calumpit, Bulacan—worth hundreds of millions of pesos and supposedly completed between 2023 and 2024 under the Bulacan First District Engineering Office, which is under scrutiny for alleged ghost projects in the province. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Various flood-mitigating structures in Barangay Meyto, Calumpit, Bulacan, remain unfinished, as seen in these photos taken on September 10, 2025. SumbongSaPangulo.ph listed seven flood control projects in Barangays Meyto and San Jose, Calumpit, Bulacan—worth hundreds of millions of pesos and supposedly completed between 2023 and 2024 under the Bulacan First District Engineering Office, which is under scrutiny for alleged ghost projects in the province. J<em>onathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged more ghost — or irregular —projects in Bulacan, based on the latest report it sent to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).</p><p>According to COA’s fraud audit report, these four projects are under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office. </p><p>COA said some of these projects were either not in their designated sites, did not meet the specifications, and did not have the necessary documents. </p><p>Among those included in the report were the following: </p><ol><li>Construction of Flood Control Structure along Balagtas River Purok 2, Barangay San Juan, Balagtas, Bulacan (Total project cost at P46,353,844.58) under SYMS Construction Trading. </li><li>Construction of Flood Control Structure along Maycapiz-Taliptip River, Barangay Perez, Bulakan, Bulacan (Total contract cost amounting to P92,585,187.67) under SYMS Construction Trading. </li><li>Construction of Riverbank Protection Structure at Barangay Piel, Baliuag, Bulacan (Total contract cost amounting to P96,499,605.71) under a joint venture between L.R. Tiqui Builders, Inc. and M3 Konstract Corporation.</li><li>Construction of Riverbank Protection Structure at Barangay Carillo, Hagonoy, Bulacan (Total contract cost amounting to P74,111,970.05) under Darcy and Anna Builders &amp; Trading.</li></ol><p>Based on COA’s fraud audit report, the P46.3-million flood control project in Barangay San Juan in Balagtas, Bulacan had “0.00 percent project completion and tagged it as on-going.”</p><p>Prior to this, the DPWH COA Audit Team earlier issued a notice of disallowance to Bulacan’s 1st District Engineering Office for “paying the entire contract cost despite the absence of any real accomplishment.” </p><p>When they went to the site for an inspection on September 16, the representatives from Bulacan’s 1st DEO “pinpointed COA to a site different from the approved project location.”</p><p>When they went to the location, they only found a structure that had exposed steel bars filled with “unsuitable” materials.</p><p>“COA also inspected the original approved location and did not find any flood control structure. Aside from these findings, DPWH-Bulacan 1st DEO failed to submit a significant number of critical supporting documents to COA,” the report read. </p><p>The second project, also under SYMS Construction, was neither implemented nor did the construction begin even if it was tagged 100 percent completed and fully paid. </p><p>Representatives under the COA fraud audit team already classified this as a ghost project since no flood control structure was in place during the inspection.</p><p>Aside from this, the report stated that the Bulacan 1st DEO did not give any necessary and important supporting documents for the project. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/24/ombudsman-oks-doj-filing-raps-vs-persons-tagged-in-bulacan-ghost-flood-projects-1109"><strong>Ombudsman OKs filing of raps vs persons tagged in 5 Bulacan ghost flood projects</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>‘EXISTING FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT’ </strong></div><p>The latest fraud audit report also flagged a riverbank protection structure amounting to nearly P96.5 million despite an “existing flood control structure at the approved location.”</p><p>COA said their findings were anchored on satellite imagery taken on Feb. 29, 2024 — 22 days after the contract effectivity date. </p><p>When they inspected this on September 23, representatives from Bulacan’s 1st DEO brought them to a different location. </p><p>No important and necessary documents were supposedly provided for the project validation, based on the commission’s report to the ICI. </p><p>“The pinpointed site did not match the location stated in the DPWH as-built plans which were provided to COA. Despite this COA proceeded to inspect the erroneously identified site by DPWH, where it found an existing structure that utterly failed to meet the project specifications,” the fraud audit report read. </p><p>The fourth project — awarded to Darcy and Anna Builders and Trading — had a mismatch location stated in the DPWH plan provided to COA. </p><p>Just like the three other projects, the Bulacan 1st DEO did not provide any necessary documents for the project validation. </p><p>“Despite this COA proceeded to inspect the erroneously identified site by DPWH, where it found an existing structure that utterly failed to meet the project specifications,” based on the report.</p><p>COA said among those liable include: </p><ul style="list-style-type:circle"><li>District Engineer Henry Alcantara</li><li>Assistant District Engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez</li><li>Planning and Design Section Chief Ernesto Galang</li><li>Engineer Jolo Mari Tayao</li><li>Project Engineer Lemuel Ephraim SD. Roque</li><li>Engineer John Michael Ramos</li><li>Sally Santos of SYMS Construction Trading</li><li>Engineer Jaypee Mendoza</li><li>Engineer Irene Ontingco</li><li>Engineer Joshua Blitz Roxas</li><li>Engineer Prince Earl Deocampo </li><li>Joint Venture’s Luisito Tiquia as well as the JV’s corporate officers and members of the board.</li><li>Darcy Kimel Respicio, Owner/Manager of Darcy &amp; Anna Builders &amp; Trading</li></ul><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/24/ombudsman-says-brice-hernandez-no-longer-seeks-to-be-state-witness-1416"><strong>Ombudsman says Brice Hernandez no longer seeks to be state witness</strong></a></div><p>Those involved in the report may face complaints for allegedly violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, provisions under the Revised Penal Code, COA Circular No. 2009-001, and the Government Procurement Reform Act.</p><p>COA said these fraud audit reports could help the ICI in its probe for the anomalous flood control projects. </p><p>“The Commission further clarified that more individuals may be held liable as the audit progresses, and new information becomes available,” the report to the ICI read. </p><p>“This new batch of report forms part of the 25 FARs submitted by COA to oversight bodies: nine to the Office of the Ombudsman and twelve to the ICI,” it added.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/10/22/nearly-p1-billion-fund-lost-to-ghost-flood-projects-in-malolos-bulacan-mayor-1536"><strong>Nearly P1 billion fund lost to &#x27;ghost&#x27; flood projects in Malolos, Bulacan: mayor</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WZpPE38dq4o?si=Dj_atNVVliQL6WpO" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div>

<p>The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged more ghost projects in Bulacan, based on its latest report sent to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).</p>

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged more ghost projects in Bulacan, based on its latest report sent to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

COA flags over P300M more ghost flood projects in Bulacan

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COA flags over P300M more ghost flood projects in Bulacan

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 25, 2025 11:48 AM PHT

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Commission on Audit

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Independent Commission for Infrastructure

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