President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, said he was not only disappointed but also “very angry” after inspecting a P55-million ghost flood project in Bulacan.
Marcos inspected a reinforced concrete riverwall project in Barangay Piel, Baliuag, Bulacan based on a report lodged through the sumbongsapangulo.ph website, an online portal where the public can submit complaints about anomalous flood control programs.
“Extremely, more than disappointed, I’m actually getting very angry with what’s happening here. Papaano naman, biruin mo, wala talaga 220 meters, P55 million completed ang record ng Public Works, pero walang ginawa kahit isa… Puntahan ninyo, wala kayong makita kahit ano. Tuloy-tuloy ang pagbaha doon sa kabila,” Marcos said.
(Extremely, more than disappointed, I’m actually getting very angry with what’s happening here. How can this be? Imagine, not even 220 meters, yet Public Works recorded P55 million as completed, but not a single thing was done. Go there, you won’t see anything. Meanwhile, flooding continues on the other side.)
“If all of these projects were properly executed and implemented, ang laki ng nawalang problema sa atin at sa taongbayan at saka mas magiging maayos hanggang irrigation, hanggang fresh water supply, hanggang household. Pero itong ginagawa nila, talagang nakakapinsala pa sa mga local residents,” he added.
(If all of these projects were properly executed and implemented, many problems for us and the people would have been avoided, and services from irrigation to fresh water supply to households would be better. But with what they are doing, it is actually causing harm to the local residents.)
In a document provided by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the construction firm that bagged the project, which cost a total of P55,730,911.60, was Syms Construction Trading.
The actual start date indicated was February 2, 2025, with a contract expiry date of October 22, 2025.
Marcos said that as of June 2025, the project was reported as completed and fully paid.
As of Wednesday morning, the DPWH and Syms Construction Trading have not given a statement on the issue.
He added that a legal team is now reviewing the matter for the possible filing of charges against those responsible, along with other anomalous projects across the country.
“For example, falsification na ito dahil nag-report sila na completed. Kitang-kita naman na hindi completed. So that's already a big violation. And for the big ones, I'm thinking very hard, pipilahan natin sila ng economic sabotage because economic sabotage is very clear,” Marcos said.
(For example, this is already falsification because they reported it as completed when it’s clearly not. That alone is a major violation. And for the bigger cases, I’m strongly considering charging them with economic sabotage, because the grounds for economic sabotage are very clear.)
“’Yung utang ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas ay mababawasan kung naging maayos lahat ito kasi ngayon, babalikan natin ito, saan napunta ang pera? Hahabulin natin. Kakasuhan natin sila. How long would that take?” he added.
(The Philippines’ government debt would have been reduced if all of these were done properly. But now, we have to go back and ask, where did the money go? We will run after them. We will file charges against them. How long would that take?0
Last week, Marcos inspected a “failed” flood control project in Calumpit, Bulacan, whose contractor was St. Timothy Construction Corporation, one of 15 construction companies that cornered 20 percent, or P100 billion worth, of government flood control projects since July 2022.
As the administration launched an in-depth probe into flood control projects across the country on August 11, Marcos said the province of Bulacan had the highest number of flood mitigation projects at 668 since July 2022.
Bulacan is the fifth most flood-prone province in the country.
At the first hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the bogus flood projects on Tuesday, August 19, Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan said their initial findings showed P5.9 billion worth of ghost flood control projects in Bulacan. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)