For the first time since its creation by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) conducted an on-site inspection of questionable flood control projects in Quezon City, joined by Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Leading the team were ICI Chairperson and retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes Jr., former DPWH Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, SGV & Co. executive Rossana Fajardo, and special adviser Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong.
Their first stop: a retaining wall built directly in front of an already existing, fully completed retaining wall along Culiat Creek.
The most shocking revelation came when Singson discovered that a floodwall project along the San Juan River was divided into 92 phases, with just a single segment already costing ₱141 million.
“Kalokohan na yun, obvious naman kayo, chop-chop yun,” Singson exclaimed in frustration.
What he referred to was a long-standing modus operandi inside DPWH—where projects are intentionally chopped into multiple small segments so that they remain within the district engineering office’s cost threshold, thus avoiding transfer of oversight to the regional level.
According to records, Quezon City has over 300 flood control projects by DPWH from 2022 to 2025, most of which the local government unit had no knowledge of. Only two projects were formally approved by the city, while at least 66 are suspected ghost projects.
Altogether, the total cost of these projects amounts to a staggering ₱17 billion.
Following the inspection, the ICI and Mayor Belmonte met with DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to discuss immediate solutions and to identify those accountable.