Bulacan flood control fraud audits found no link to Joel Villanueva, says COA

The Commission on Audit (COA) said it found no link between Senator Joel Villanueva and the flood-control projects in Bulacan covered by its fraud audits.

Villanueva raised the issue during the Senate hearing on COA’s proposed 2027 budget, asking the commission whether its ongoing examination of flood control projects in his home province had found him connected to any of the projects under review.

“Puwede niyo sabihin kahit sa harap ni Chairman JV (Ejercito) hindi po ako mahihiya sabihin kung si Joel Villanueva ba kasama sa projects ng flood control sa mga nakita po ng COA,” Villanueva said.

COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba responded that the commission had not found such a link.

“Wala po kaming nakikita,” Cordoba replied.

COA findings point to implementing agency

Cordoba said the audits so far have focused on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which implemented the projects and whose personnel were assigned to the Bulacan district.

“It’s really the DPWH people yung nag-implement because it’s the budget of the DPWH and it’s their personnel sa Bulacan,” Cordoba said.

He added that Villanueva was not involved in implementing the projects and was not identified by COA in connection with the audit findings discussed during the hearing.

The exchange came as COA reported that its fraud audits of flood-control projects in Bulacan remain ongoing. Cordoba said the commission had so far covered “almost 50” projects and had issued notices of disallowance based on findings from some of the audits.

COA to submit reports to Senate

Cordoba said COA had already submitted fraud audit findings to the Office of the Ombudsman and could provide copies to the Senate.

The commission has also been coordinating with the Ombudsman, with COA fraud auditors serving as witnesses in preliminary investigations and cases filed before the Sandiganbayan and regional trial courts.

COA previously ordered a fraud audit of DPWH flood-control projects in Bulacan following concerns over the implementation of flood-mitigation projects in the province. Subsequent COA reports have flagged projects that auditors found to be nonexistent, constructed at locations different from those approved, or unsupported by required documentation.

Cordoba said the commission would continue its audits, with Bulacan remaining its principal focus because of the volume of flood control projects implemented there.

“Wala namang hihinto, tuloy-tuloy lang hanggang sa ma-cover po namin lahat,” he said. —LDF, GMA News