The Commission on Audit (COA) released a report stating that the government lost up to P6.4 billion due to damaged and unused infrastructure projects of the DPWH in 2024. According to the COA, 747 projects have defects, not completed, or simply left.
The report revealed that Region 6 had the largest amount of problems amounting to P3.458 billion, where cracks, pavement defects, and structural issues were found in projects in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique. This was followed by Region 10 with more than P1.5 billion in missing, incorrect, or unfinished projects.
There were also discoveries of overstated costs, negative variances, and technical defects in other parts of Region 10 such as Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. Meanwhile, Region 4-B has 153 projects with cracks, collapsed sections, and unaccomplished works worth more than P84 million.
The COA advised the DPWH to immediately engage contractors and fix all defects and deficiencies they found. The COA also criticized incorrect reporting on the status of some projects.
In a separate statement, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that more than P180 billion may have been lost in ghost flood control projects since 2016. He said that based on the inspection of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, it turns out that if 600 out of 10,000 projects are ghost, then 6% of the total 30,000 projects may not actually exist.
