Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon said on Thursday, Sept. 18, that the government may have lost trillions due to anomalous flood control projects.

In his interpellation during the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on the anomalous flood control projects, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan called for relevant government agencies to initiate claims against warranties and performance bonds tied to flood control projects that have failed to deliver on their intended outcomes, particularly in light of the recent widespread flooding that affected several provinces.

Pangilinan inquired about the status of the performance bonds and warranties for the substandard projects currently under investigation.

“Dapat silang parusahan sa kasong kriminal pero dapat din silang parusahan doon sa pinansyal na mayroong bonds na dapat sumagot at sinasabi ninyo na tens of billions na kailangan isauli (They should be punished with criminal charges, but they should also be penalized financially, since there are bonds that should answer for this, and you’re saying tens of billions need to be returned),” Pangilinan said.

“Sabi nga nila (Like they said), ‘You hit them where it hurts.’” he added.

This was after Dizon informed the senator that warranty claims had already been initiated against some of the contractors of the anomalous flood control projects, and that these warranties and performance bonds could add up to tens of billions to hundreds of billions of pesos.

Earlier, Pangilinan had already urged the government to enforce warranties, penalties, and surety bonds—most of which run for as long as five years—from flood control contractors, insisting that “monetary punishment” would be “fast and immediate.”

In his interpellation of Dizon, Senator Bam Aquino Aquino pointed out that initial estimates already involved tens of billions—possibly hundreds of billions—lost to anomalous projects. He pressed Dizon on whether the amount could reach a trillion pesos.

“May posibilidad po (There’s a possibility),” Dizon admitted, noting that the presidentially created Integrity and Corruption Investigation (ICI) body has been tasked to review projects from the last ten years.

Aquino highlighted this by contrasting the potential trillions lost with the cost of vital social programs. He cited that an additional ₱3 billion would have been enough to expand the government’s feeding program for three million severely malnourished children.

“For three million severely wasted children, to increase their feeding program from 120 to 150 days, it will only cost an additional ₱3 billion—and yet we are talking about trillions, possibly trillions, stolen from us,” Aquino said.

Dizon assured senators that within one to two weeks, the DPWH would begin publishing an initial list of ghost and substandard projects through a transparency portal. The list, he said, would include contractors, proponents, and even DPWH personnel involved.

Aquino further suggested that bid rigging among contractors be pursued under the Philippine Competition Act, which imposes fines of ₱100 million to ₱250 million per offense, as a way to recover stolen funds.

Dizon agreed, revealing that three cases filed last week already included violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, malversation through falsification of public documents, and breaches of the Government Procurement Act.

“If you ask my opinion, lahat po ng pwede nating ibatong kaso sa kanila ay dapat gawin po natin para hindi lang po mapanagot pero maibalik po ang pera ng taumbayan (If you ask my opinion, we should pursue every possible charge against them so that not only will they be held accountable, but the people’s money will be returned),” Dizon said.