AFP: 252 'ghosts' in 10,000 inspected infra projects

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said that out of the 10,000 infrastructure projects they've inspected in different regions, a total of 252 were found to be "ghost projects."

In a press briefing, AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said that the inspections were conducted with the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“There were 30,000 projects that were deemed for the AFP and the PNP collectively to inspect. From these 30,000 projects, 10,000 na po yung ating na-inspect from the side of the AFP,” Padilla said.

“It turned out that the total of around 252 of these na naiikot na po namin (that we inspected) are ghost projects from 2016 to present,” she added.

According to Padilla, the AFP and PNP will be submitting the complete reports from these inspections to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

The AFP and PNP have been tapped to conduct inspections on infrastructure projects to speed up the investigation into possible corruption.

During his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. issued a stern warning to government personnel who steal public funds, such as those for flood control projects.

Marcos later on disclosed that 20% of the total P545 billion budget of flood control projects was awarded to only 15 contractors. 

The ICI was created in September to check anomalous projects. —VAL, GMA Integrated News