Belmonte: 35 flood control projects missing in QC

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday said 35 flood control projects in the city are missing.

“I believe those are ghost projects,” Belmont said in Maki Pulido’s “24 Oras” report.

At a press conference, the Quezon City local government revealed that 331 flood control projects are worth P17 billion, of which P7.7 billion are alleged insertions and were not included in the 2024 and 2025 National Expenditure Program.

“Ang binigay sa amin ay scope of work lamang o yung general information lang. Hindi isinumite hanggang ngayon ang tinatawag na program of works na mas detalyadong impormasyon ang nilalaman,” Belmonte said.

(They only gave us the scope of work or the general information. Until now, they have yet to submit the program of works, which has a more detailed content.)

Among these flood control projects is the rehabilitation of the drainage system in Barangay South Triangle, where the only visible change from February 2024 to September 2025 is the painted sidewalk.

The said project cost P70 million.

“It appears wala talagang ginawa sa ilalim, unless napakagaling ng contractor na ginayang gaya ang pag-restore,” said Marck Dale Perral, head of Quezon City Engineering Department.

(It appears they did nothing underneath, unless the contractor is amazing, that they did the exact thing during restoration.)

The Quezon City government observed that the P48 million drainage system rehabilitation in Barangay Tatalon also had a painted sidewalk and a manhole that was replaced.

Belmonte said if the P17 billion funds were used properly, it could have almost completed the P24 billion drainage masterplan of the city, or used to build more than 5,000 classrooms, 350 PhilHealth Accredited Health Centers, or over 1,500 houses for informal settler families.

 In a Super Radyo dzBB report, Belmonte said the city government itself had to conduct a “fact-finding inspection” because the DPWH allegedly failed to provide details about the projects.

QC officials also raised concerns over irregularities such as:

• Projects marked “completed” despite being visibly unfinished.
• Contractors having identical approved budgets for different project sites.
• Flood control projects implemented in non-flood-prone areas, while actual flood-prone communities remained underserved.

Of the total, 91 projects were listed as completed but were found to be still ongoing during inspection, Belmonte added.

Independent probe sought

Belmonte said the city government will submit the results of its inspection to the newly created Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) for further investigation.

She also welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive giving local government units (LGUs) the authority to sign off on completed infrastructure projects instead of the DPWH.

The Quezon City government is also drafting an ordinance to encourage residents to report questionable projects in their communities. Belmonte added that the probe is ongoing, and questions remain on which contractors were awarded the biggest projects and which districts received the most flood control allocations. — Mariel Celine Serquiña and Sherylin Untalan/RF, GMA Integrated News