MANILA – In line with the whole-of-government effort to combat corruption in infrastructure projects exposed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday filed criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Mark Allan Villamor Arevalo, sole proprietor of Wawao Builders.
The charges are in connection with an estimated PHP48.39 million tax deficiency arising from a ghost flood-control project of Wawao Builders in Malolos City, Bulacan in 2024.
According to the criminal complaints, Wawao violated Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, by committing tax evasion and failing to supply correct and accurate information in its filings of income tax and value-added tax (VAT) returns for the first and second quarters of 2024.
BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza said the tax compliance investigation is also in line with Finance Secretary Frederick Go’s directive to prioritize tax violations connected to irregular government projects.
“This case reflects the BIR’s active participation in the President’s anti-corruption crusade,” Mendoza said as quoted in a news release.
“While other agencies address the irregularities in project implementation, we at the BIR are doing our part by filing criminal complaints against those who misuse public funds and evade their tax obligations through these ghost projects.”
Mendoza warned that the BIR is also actively investigating and building evidence against not only Wawao Builders for its other projects but also other flood-control project contractors whose names have surfaced in the government's recent anti-corruption investigations.
“We will continue to investigate and file cases against these contractors to protect public funds, strengthen accountability in public spending, and uphold our tax code,” Mendoza said.
Records indicate that a government contract for the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Barangay Caingin, Malolos City, Bulacan, was awarded to Wawao Builders in January 2024 for a contract amount of PHP77.20 million.
Wawao Builders collected a total of PHP72.37 million net of withholding taxes, in three tranches from March to April 2025.
However, a review by the Commission on Audit and the BIR’s own physical verification found that no riverbank protection structure was actually constructed at the project site, despite reports indicating 100 percent project completion.
Based on these findings, the BIR disallowed the claimed deductions and input value-added tax.
With this filing, the BIR has now filed a total of 13 criminal complaints linked to anomalous flood-control projects, with estimated total potential tax liabilities of PHP8.92 billion under investigation. (with a report from Benjamin Pulta/PNA)