MANILA, Philippines — Dozens of flood control projects implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Quezon City remain unaccounted for, with Mayor Joy Belmonte describing these as “ghost projects” whose funding could have been used to help millions of Filipinos.
“As an ordinary citizen, based on the findings, my conclusion is that these are ghost projects,” Belmonte said at a press briefing yesterday. “As a normal person, for me, I believe those are ghost projects.”
Belmonte was referring to the findings of the local government’s investigation into the DPWH flood control projects in the city from 2022 to 2025.
From the 254 flood mitigation projects initially identified by the local government, the total number of DPWH projects in the city ballooned to 331 after district offices submitted an updated list.
Among these were 66 flood control projects with “location errors,” including 35 without coordinates and “cannot be found” and another 31 with incorrect coordinates.
City engineer Mark Dale Perral said they tried to validate projects with existing coordinates, but discovered that no work had been done when they visited the areas.
At least two drainage system projects worth P48.2 million and P70.9 million were discovered to have been tagged as completed after the contractors repainted the sidewalks and repaired the manholes.
Perral said this may constitute a violation of the actual scope of work of the projects, which should have also covered the actual rehabilitation of the drainage systems.
The city government also discovered slope protection projects built in front of existing walls, which reduced the capacity of waterways, as well as multiple projects on the same location.
Belmonte said the 331 projects have a total cost of P17 billion, with 305 – worth P16 billion – not aligned with the city’s drainage masterplan.
For instance, 91 of the 117 drainage system projects are located in areas not identified as flood-prone.
“I am outraged that money has been squandered. I am deeply aggrieved, I am profoundly saddened, that there are people without conscience who thought of wasting these funds – fully knowing that this money could change lives – just to profit and enrich themselves,” Belmonte said.
The city government will submit its findings to the Independent Committee for Infrastructure formed by President Marcos for appropriate actions.
The local government also signed an agreement with the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers-QC and the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute to assess the flood control projects to determine their viability in addressing flooding in the city.
“Our goal is to end the suffering of QCitizens whenever there are floods. They pay taxes, often deducted from their hard-earned wages. They deserve to be repaid with honest and proper public service,” Belmonte said.
“It is not our duty to sustain the luxuries of contractors or any corrupt government official. Tama na. Sobra na. Mahiya naman kayo (Stop it. It is too much. Have some shame),” she added.