ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider COA turns over to ICI 4 fraud audit reports on P351-M 'ghost' flood control projects in Bulacan

COA turns over to ICI 4 fraud audit reports on P351-M 'ghost' flood control projects in Bulacan

Published Oct 2, 2025 04:39 pm
The Commission on Audit (COA) has provided the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) with fraud audit reports involving four "fully paid" ghost flood-control projects worth P351 million in Bulacan.
The COA reports named three contractors involved in the projects – Syms Construction Trading, Topnotch Catalyst Builders, Inc., and Triple 8 Construction and Supply, Inc.
It said that Syms Construction undertook two projects. The first project was for the construction of flood control structure (revetment) in Purok 1 to Purok 2, Barangay San Roque, Baliuag, Bulacan with a total contract cost of P92,688,858.48.
When state auditors inspected the project on Sept. 24, 2025, the COA said they discovered that no flood control structure existed. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office (DEO) even pinpointed them to a different location and offered no explanation for the change, it said.
There were also no critical supporting documents provided to the COA, and Syms Construction was paid the entire cost of the project despite the irregularities, it also said.
The COA recommended that the persons liable are District Engineer Henry C. Alcantara and Syms Construction representative Sally N. Santos.
The second project of Syms Construction was for the construction of a flood-control structure along Angat River at Barangay Taal, Pulilan in Bulacan with a total contract cost of P92,710,206.94, the COA said.
The Sept. 17, 2025 inspection of the COA showed that there was only an abandoned slope protection structure, which already existed prior to the project's start date, it said.
Like the first project, there were no supporting documents relative to the project. Despite being a ghost project, Syms Construction was paid fully for the contract, it also said.
The COA found Alcantara, Assistant District Engineer Brice Ericson D. Hernandez, Planning and Design Section Chief Ernesto Galang, Engineer John Michael E. Ramos, Project Engineer Lemuel Ephraim SD. Roque, Engineer Jolo Mari V. Tayao, and Santos liable for the project.
The third fraud audit report involved the construction of Riverbank Protection Structure (Package B) at Barangay Bagong Silang (Purok 4) in Plaridel, Bulacan for P69,480,116.94. It was undertaken by Topnotch Catalyst Builders.
The COA said the DPWH-Bulacan First DEO pinpointed a mismatched project site to the state auditors, with no explanation why the location was changed.
When the audit team inspected the site on Sept. 15, 2025, it said the auditors found no flood control structure. At the wrong pinpointed location, the COA found a flood control structure which falls short of the approved specifications, it said.
Despite no critical supporting documents backing up the project, Topnotch Catalyst Builders was still fully paid for the ghost project, the COA said in its report.
It said that Triple 8 Construction and Supply took over the construction of Riverwall at Barangay Pagala, Sta. 00+910 to Sta. 01+310 in Baliuag, Bulacan with a total contract cost of P96,499,500.70.
However, the COA said its Sept. 23, 2025 inspection showed no flood control project in the cited place despite the full payment to the construction company. It also said the DPWH Bulacan First DEO also failed to provide state auditors with the necessary supporting documents for the validation of the project.
The COA said those found liable are Alcantara, Hernandez, Ramos, Galang, Mendoza, Engineer Raymond G. Tolentino, Engineer Lorenzo A. Pagtalunan, Engineer Elmer F. Arellano, and Triple 8 Construction and Supply representative Wilfredo M. Natividad. The COA also wanted to include in the liability the company's officers and members of the board.
"The individuals involved may face charges for graft and corruption under Republic Act No. 3019, malversation, and falsification of documents under the Revised Penal Code, as well as violations of COA Circular No. 2009-001 and the Government Procurement Reform Act," the COA said.
"The Commission stressed that the initial list of liable persons is not final and may expand as the audit progresses, or new information becomes available," it added.
With this recent submission, the COA now has brought a total of 17 fraud audit reports to relevant authorities. It had already submitted nine before the Office of the Ombudsman and another four before the ICI.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.