Payments for ghost flood control project contractors withheld —DPWH

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DWPH) on Friday said that it has withheld the payments for ongoing projects involving at least two blacklisted contractors in light of the discovery that some of them were "non-existent" or "ghost flood projects."

According to DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, these include payments for Wawao Builders and SYMS Construction Trading, which have been banned as contractors. 

“Pinapahold ko po lahat ng payments to those contractors, kung meron po silang ongoing. Pero kailangan din po natin tapusin, syempre, kung meron silang ongoing. So pag-uusapan po namin ng ating operations group kung paano po ang magiging sistema, kung ano po ang gagawin natin para matuloy ang mga proyektong ‘yun,” Dizon told the House appropriations panel during the budget presentation of the DPWH’s proposed P880 billion budget for 2026.

(I issued an order to hold off payments to those contractors if ever they are involved in ongoing projects. They need to finish the project if it is ongoing, and I will talk with our operations group on how we are going to deal with this so the projects they are under contract with will still be completed.) 

SYMS Construction Trading was behind the ghost project visited by President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. in Barangay Piel, Baliuag on August 20.

Dizon, meanwhile, has personally inspected Wawao’s P96.5 million flood control project in Bulacan which has been declared "complete" in 2024 but it was found out during the visit that the contractor had just started to catch up with the construction three weeks ago.

“Para dun po sa mga proyekto na completed na, pero hindi naman talaga o substandard, kailangan po kunin natin iyong warranties kung ano man ang recourse ng gobyerno para po warranties, kung ano man ang recourse ng gobyerno para po mabayaran nung mga contractor na yun, ang mga iniwan ng proyekto na either ghost or substandard,” Dizon said.

(For projects deemed completed but turned out to be a ghost or substandard projects, we need to get back the warranties... pursue other recourse so that the contractor pays up for sloppy projects.)

“Hindi po tayo papayag na ganun-ganun na lang. So kailangan po ‘yung contractor po mismo ang sumagot niyan,” Dizon added.

(We won’t allow these people to get away with their ghost work. The contractor should pay their dues.) 

During the same budget briefing, Dizon announced that all DPWH officials from the Central Office had already heeded his call to tender courtesy resignations to jumpstart reform in the agency marred by anomalous flood control projects.

Dizon's order for courtesy resignation covers all DPWH officials across the country.

"A lot of DPWH officials already submitted courtesy resignations. I will double-check, but at least from the Central Office, everyone has submitted already. It's 100%," Dizon said in reply to the question fielded by ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima.

"Makakaasa pa po tayo na merong mga susunod po sa mga susunod na araw at susunod na linggo," Dizon added.

(Rest assured that other officials will take heed of this order in the coming days and weeks.) —VAL, GMA Integrated News