Scandal-serye, still no ghost project cases

We‘re two months into the grotesque unraveling of this grand thievery of flood control projects, but we have yet to see the perpetrators brought to justice.

Isn’t it weird that the ground zero of this flood corruption scandal is in Bulacan’s first district, where contracted projects don’t exist at all, and yet no cases have been filed against those behind the ghost structures there?

Isn’t it weird that while these phantom dikes, floodwalls, spillways and what-have-you are the easiest to prove in terms of corruption in public works, our authorities are still waiting to determine the elements of the crime?

And yet, the evidence is exactly that – you can’t see the projects at all. Despite millions of pesos disbursed, checks issued and stacks of documents signed, sealed and delivered.

But here we are still waiting for contractors and greedy ex-DPWH engineers who enjoyed their loot as seen on tables filled with cash, to be held liable for ghost projects.

No less than former Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares said going after ghost project contractors would be so easy. One just needs to inspect the site and see that the structures dont exist.

“That’s it. That’s the case. You don’t need any other evidence,” she said in a recent interview on dzMM.

Our authorities dont need to look too far or to travel to far-flung and remote areas.

What happened to Bulacan?

Take Bulacan for instance.

Around this time two months ago, on Aug. 14, to be exact, I broke the story of how a district engineer’s casino addiction had intertwined with ghost projects in Bulacan. I detailed this in my column, “District engineer’s casino addiction spawns ghost projects,” noting how in one night alone, the engineer had gambled away P150 million in a sprawling casino in Metro Manila.

A week later, Sen. Panfilo Lacson gave an explosive privilege speech, “Flooded gates of corruption,” on how systemic the problem was and how it “submerges the nation not just in flood waters, but in depths of corruption.”

He cited my Aug. 14 column and revealed just how massive the problem was in Bulacan alone and how the casino-loving DE Henry Alcantara and his cohorts had made the first district of the province ground zero for ghost projects.

What's the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) doing about this?

So far, the ICI has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against former lawmaker and appropriations committee chairman Zaldy Co and several officials of the DPWH for alleged anomalies in a P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro implemented through Co's Sunwest.

This is a positive step no doubt. But what happens to the ghost projects?

On Monday, the ICI said the commission aims to file 15 to 20 cases in four weeks over 421 alleged ghost flood control projects.

It is understandable that the government wants to make sure first that the cases are airtight. That's fair.

Cases must be based on hard evidence rather than pure rhetoric and political posturing. Otherwise, in the presence of the best defense lawyers these unscrupulous contractors' and corrupt officials' money can buy, the charges will not stand in court.

Remember how many of the ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses just got thrown in the trash bin through the decades because of supposedly legal loopholes and our frustratingly slow justice system?

Speaking of political posturing, we should also be wary of individuals using the corruption scandal to advance their interests ahead of the 2028 elections.

‘Most corrupt budget’

A lot of individuals are hitching a ride on the attention this scandal is getting, forgetting the fact that the 2025 budget – from which a huge part of the flood control kickbacks supposedly came from – was approved with a collective stamp of the House, Senate and the executive.

People forget that the budget is a law and no law gets to be enacted without following the process of deliberation and voting.

Perhaps the ICI should also look into how the 2025 budget deliberations unfolded. Who played big roles in the insertions? Who represented the Senate during the bicameral conference committee meetings for the 2025 deliberations?

Going back to the ghost projects, cases must be filed as soon as possible to finally bring the perpetrators to justice.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has already flagged hundreds of ghost projects, not just in Bulacan.

As for the Bulacan boys, they have been removed from their posts; their assets have been frozen and their testimonies have already been heard. Their names are also on immigration lookout bulletins.

Their signatures are on the documents related to the ghost projects. Their links to contractors have already been established. Airtight? For sure.

Against this backdrop, we hope that something concrete – as in the actual filing of cases – comes out of this.

I am also pinning my hopes on newly appointed Ombudsman Boying Remulla. His move to lift restrictions on statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) is a step in the right direction.

But his litmus test is this flood control mess. How far will he go to bring the perpetrators to justice?

Pursuing the cases against those behind ghost projects will prove that he has the guts and the political will to be the ombudsman that our country needs.

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