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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 421 out of 8,000 flood control projects are 'ghost projects' — Dizon

421 out of 8,000 flood control projects are 'ghost projects' — Dizon

Published Oct 9, 2025 10:36 am  |  Updated Oct 9, 2025 04:21 pm

At A Glance

  • A total of 421 out of 8,000 inspected flood control projects across the country are "ghost projects" or practically non-existent, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon disclosed on Thursday, Oct. 9.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon inspects a substandard flood control project in Oriental Mindoro. He did not like what he saw. (DPWH photo)
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon inspects a substandard flood control project in Oriental Mindoro. He did not like what he saw. (DPWH photo)
A total of 421 out of 8,000 inspected flood control projects across the country are "ghost projects" or practically non-existent, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon disclosed on Thursday, Oct. 9.
After spending several days on the field validating flood control projects that were tagged as "completed" in the agency's record, Dizon returned to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) headquarters to report his findings.
With the help of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) or previously the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as well as of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), Dizon said they found that hundreds of supposedly completed flood control projects do not exist at all.
And most of them are in Luzon, Dizon said.
"Initial pa lang. Hindi muna kami magbibigay ng detalye muna, kasi ICI has requested that in order for them to investigate this properly is talagang ma zero-in itong mga ghost projects na ito (That's only the initial number. And we will not give more details because ICI has requested that in order for them to investigate properly, they have to zero in on the ghost projects)," Dizon said in a press conference,
He added that more such project may be discovered once DPWH inspects more flood control works.
DPWH and its partner agencies are now focusing on ghost projects because they are the ones that are easy to cite for case build-up.
"I think our agreement [with ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr.] is logical naman din. Na yung ghost projects, yun ang low-hanging fruit yun, meaning, madaling i-establish yung liability and accountability kapag ghost project (That the ghost projects are low-hanging fruits, meaning, it's easy to establish the liability and accountability there)," Dizon said.
"Kasi ghost nga eh. Hindi na mahaba yung case build up noon, so mas mabilis tayong makakapag-build, hopefully ng kaso (Because they're ghost projects. The case build-up wouldn't be that long, so it's gonna be fast)," he added.
ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka, who joined Dizon in the press conference,  called Dizon's report a "big help" in terms of data and information gathering.
"We will look into those, and kung merong ibang distrito, regions na pwedeng namin tingnan, kumpleto na ang mga dokumento at ebidensya din, puntahan natin yun (And if there are more districts or regions that we can look at, we will look into them)," he said.
"Sa lawak ng universe, meaning ng mga proyektong ito, ay nag coconcentrate na tayo ng dahan dahan. Dahil medyo minimal pa ang ating capacity right now... nagkakaroon tayo ng momentum, pabilis nang pabilis na yan (Amid the complexity of this case, we are now starting to have something to concentrate on. Although we have minimal capacity right now, we're already gaining momentum, and soon, we're going to be able to move faster)," Hosaka added.
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