DOF: Up to P118.5-B economic loss due to 'ghost' flood projects

Economic loss resulting from "ghost" flood control projects may have reached over a hundred billion pesos from 2023 to 2025 alone, according to estimates by the Department of Finance (DOF).

During the Senate Committee on Finance's briefing with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on the proposed P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto expressed dismay over the allegations of anomalies and corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways' (DPWH) flood control projects.

Citing DOF's estimates, Recto said "ghost" flood control projects have cost the Philippine economy about P42.3 billion to P118.5 billion from 2023 to 2025. 

The economic cost is equivalent to 95,000 to 266,000 jobs that could have benefited Filipinos.

"Raising revenues is no joke. Tapos makikita mo lang na hindi ito napupunta sa mga tamang proyekto at sa kapakanan ng taong bayan, 'yung iba naging multo pa," Recto said.

(Raising revenues is no joke. Then you will see that did not get spent on the proper projects and for the welfare of the people. Other projects even turned out to be ghost projects.)

The Finance chief committed his full support to the President's directive to closely scrutinize the 2026 National Expenditure Program.

"It is us in the DOF who must raise the money to build the roads that connect us, to ensure every Filipino has access to quality education and healthcare, to secure our food supply, and to create opportunities for all to dream bigger," he said.

"[W]e fund the nation's progress and bring us closer to our Ambisyon 2040—a prosperous middle-class society future where poverty is eradicated," he added.

Recto underscored that raising resources is no easy feat, which is why preventing wasteful spending is a top priority.

He laid down the DOF's guiding principles in safeguarding public funds, which are setting revenue targets carefully and spending taxes wisely on programs and projects that directly benefit the Filipino people. 

"For good spending is the best way to encourage tax compliance. People are naturally resistant to taxes. But their tax obedience can be won if they will see how the taxes they paid are spent for the right things, at the right price, by the right agency, at the right time," Recto said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News