PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, August 11, 2025, publicly named five construction firms that have cornered government flood control projects in nearly every region of the country.
In a press conference, Marcos said that from July 2022 to May 2025, the government implemented a total of 9,855 flood control projects across the country valued at P545.64 billion.
Marcos said the following construction firms had the most number of flood control projects with the government out of the total 2,409 contracting entities:
Legacy Construction Corporation
Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp.
St. Timothy Construction Corporation
QM Builders
EGB Construction Corporation
Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc.
Centerways Construction and Development Inc.
Sunwest, Inc.
Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp.
Triple 8 Construction & Supply, Inc.
Royal Crown Monarch Construction & Supplies Corp.
Wawao Builders
MG Samidan Construction
L.R. Tiqui Builders, Inc.
Road Edge Trading & Development Services
He said of the P545 billion total allocation for flood control projects, 20 percent or P100 billion was awarded to these 15 firms.
“This is another disturbing assessment,” Marcos said.
Of the 15 construction companies, five — Legacy Construction Corporation, Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp., St. Timothy Construction Corporation, EGB Construction Corporation, and Road Edge Trading & Development Services — had projects in almost all regions nationwide, which Marcos said raised serious doubts.
Citing his experience as a former local chief executive, Marcos said local governments usually opt to enter into a deal with local contractors.
“Ang justification sa pagpili ng kontratista ay para sasabihin pagbigyan naman natin ‘yung local para naman ‘yung maliliit na contractor may trabaho naman sila, mas mabilis kasi kung local, kausap mo ‘yung tao. Again, my experiences as governor, as much as possible we try to do it local kasi pwede naming sabihin bilisan n’yo na, you have some influence over the thing,” said Marcos.
(The justification for choosing a contractor is that they say we should give a chance to the local ones so that small contractors will have work. It’s also faster if the contractor is local because you can directly talk to them. Again, in my experiences as governor, as much as possible we try to do it locally because we can tell them to speed it up, and you have some influence over the matter.)
“But that for me was the one that’s to doubt very much,” he added.
Marcos said 6,021 of the 9,855 flood control projects worth P350 billion did not specify the type of structures built, repaired, or rehabilitated.
He said many projects in various locations were “copy-paste,” sharing the same designs and costs despite differences in location or terrain.
“I think anybody who works either in the private or public sector, 'pag sinabi may 50 projects, pare-pareho P150 million lahat impossible yan. It is impossible for one barangay, even if they are the next barangay, to have the exact same project,-- to have the exact same amount with the exact same contractor. Impossible 'yan,” said Marcos.
(I think anybody who works either in the private or public sector, if they say there are 50 projects all worth exactly P150 million, that’s impossible. It is impossible for one barangay, even if they are next to another barangay, to have the exact same project, the exact same amount, with the exact same contractor. That’s impossible.)
High spendings
Marcos said among all the regions in the country, the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and Bicol Region had the most flood control projects and the highest spending.
He said there were 1,058 flood projects worth P52.57 billion in Metro Manila; Central Luzon had 1,617 projects valued at P98.01 billion; and Bicol Region had 866 projects worth P49.61 billion.
Marcos said of the 170 pumping station projects, 157 were in Metro Manila and worth about P11.67 billion.
He said the rest were in Central Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Western Visayas.
Marcos stressed the importance of an efficient garbage collection policy for the effectiveness of the pumping stations.
“'Pag ang basura naman ay natapon, nabara ang bomba, nabara ang estero, nabara lahat, wala ring silbi ang pumping stations. And that is to bring home the message that we really have to do something about the garbage project,” Marcossaid.
(If the garbage is thrown away carelessly and clogs the pumps, esteros, and everything else, then the pumping stations become useless. And that is to bring home the message that we really have to do something about the garbage problem.)
In terms of provinces, the following had the most flood control projects:
Bulacan – 668
Cebu – 414
Isabela – 341
Pangasinan – 313
Pampanga – 292
Albay – 273
Leyte – 262
Tarlac – 258
Camarines Sur – 252
Ilocos Norte – 224
Marcos said these provinces do not match the top 10 flood-prone provinces in the country based on the National Adaptation Plan of the Philippines 2023-2050, which includes the following:
Pampanga
Nueva Ecija
Pangasinan
Tarlac
Bulacan
Metro Manila
Maguindanao
North Cotabato
Oriental Mindoro
Ilocos Norte
“You will notice, they don’t necessarily match,” the President said.
“I’m sure there is an explanation for that. We will have to study it further, but you would intuitively say that projects in areas, provinces, or regions that are pinaka-flood prone, ‘yun dapat pinakamaraming projects. Pag-aaralan natin bakit nagkaganyan,” he added.
(I’m sure there is an explanation for that. We will have to study it further, but you would intuitively say that in areas, provinces, or regions that are the most flood-prone, those should have the most projects. We will study why it turned out that way.)
Marcos made this initial report in line with his directive issued during his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) for the conduct of an in-depth investigation into the irregularities in the flood control projects across the country in light of the recent massive floods that submerged communities during the onslaught of habagat (southwest monsoon) and a series of typhoons.
He, however, clarified that nothing is final yet and that they are “not accusing anyone of anything.”
Marcos said all the completed, finished, and ongoing flood control projects across the country will be published through the sumbongsapangulo.ph.
He urged the public to report any irregularities in flood control projects in their respective areas.
“Give us information. Ako mismo ang magbabasa sa mga report ninyo,” said Marcos.
(Give us information. I will personally read your reports.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)