NBI sees 6 potential ghost flood control projects in Davao City

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday flagged six flood control projects in Davao City as strong candidates for being ghost projects.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, NBI director Melvin Matibag said that out of 100 flood control projects inspected, 51 have been red-flagged for potential irregularities.

“Meron na pong nagpunta at based doon po sa 100 projects na tinignan, 51 po na red flag na po natin. At doon po sa 51 na yan, merong anim nasa strongly candidate na ghost project,” he said.

(Some personnel have inspected it and based on that, out of the 100 projects that were checked, we have already red flagged 51. And out of those 51, there are six that are strongly candidate ghost projects.)

According to the NBI chief, investigators also discovered suspicious funding patterns, including a single geographic coordinate that received national allocation five times within a single General Appropriations Act (GAA) budget year under different project titles.

"Dalawang beses po pinondohan ng P21 million at tatlong beses na P22 million po," Matibag said.

(It was funded twice with P21 million and three times with P22 million.)

Further investigation

A single contractor, Genesis 88, allegedly secured around P7 billion worth of DPWH-implemented flood control projects between 2018 and 2024.

According to Matibag, the owner of the company was allegedly close to Representative Paolo "Pulong" Duterte.

Responding to allegations of political targeting, Matibag said that the NBI said it is also actively probing flood control projects in multiple provinces nationwide like Bulacan, Mindoro, Cebu, Quezon, Tarlac, and La Union.

If evidence confirms criminal acts, the NBI will forward its recommendations to the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman for prosecution.

“We will recommend it for further investigation by the Department of Justice or kung pwede na pong idiretso sa Ombudsman, dadalhin po natin sa Ombudsman,” Matibag said.

(We will recommend it for further investigation by the Department of Justice or if it can be taken directly to the Ombudsman, we will take it to the Ombudsman.)

Welcomes probe

Duterte earlier welcomed the probe but called for more investigation in other provinces, including in the district of Matibag’s wife, Laguna First District Representative Ann Matibag.

"We welcome Melvin Matibag’s statement on the flood control projects in Davao City’s First District... Pero sana lang kung seryoso tayo sa imbestigasyon, dapat pare-pareho ang standards sa lahat ng lugar,” Duterte said.

(We welcome Melvin Matibag's statement on the flood control projects in Davao City's First District... But I hope if we are serious about the investigation, the standards should be the same everywhere.)

“May hawak kami na videos sa projects sa distrito ni Ann Matibag at ng mga Discaya. Kung may ghost o substandard projects, imbestigahan lahat—Davao man o saan mang bahagi ng bansa," he added.

(We have videos of the projects in Ann Matibag's district and the Discayas'. If there are ghost or substandard projects, we should investigate them all—whether in Davao or anywhere else in the country.)

In response to Duterte, Ann Matibag said, "If Congressman Duterte has documents or videos showing possible irregularities in projects in my district, he should submit them, together with the specific project details, to the proper authorities. My office will cooperate fully in securing the records and in any lawful inquiry.” —Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA News