COA files fraud audit reports at ICI on P344M flood control projects
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) filed fraud audit reports at the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on four flood control projects in Bulacan worth P344 million. COA said in a statement dated Nov. 11, 2025 that the projects were under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office. Among the projects were the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Baliuag. This project, which involved SYMS Construction Trading, had a contract cost of P74,150,493.29. COA said it was pointed "to a site different from the approved location where COA found an existing structure." It said, "No flood control structure was built by the contractor at the approved site." Also among the projects were the "Riverbank Protection Structure at Barangay San Roque, Baliuag, Bulacan (Structure spanning 229.20 linear meters)." This project, which involved M3 Konstract Corporation, had a contract cost of P96,499,563.20. COA said it went to inspect the site pinpointed by certain individuals "and found an existing structure that already had several defects and cracks." COA also said, "The approved location was found to be the subject of an earlier Fraud Audit Report." Another of the four projects was the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Balagtas. This project, which involved Elite General Contractor & Development Corporation, had a contract cost of P96,499,536.28. COA said, "Satellite images showed an existing riverbank protection structure built at the approved project site 22 days after the award of the project." It also said that it "found a flood control structure split into two sections, which cannot be attributed to the project because the contract required a single continuous structure." Also among the four projects was the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Malolos. This project, which involved Wawao Builders, had a contract cost of P77,199,942.76. COA said that it found a 55-meter structure "at the approved location, which is 148.8 meters short of the agreed length." COA said it did not see a flood control structure at the pinpointed site "despite the project being tagged as 100 percent complete."