Setting in motion President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s vow to crack down on shady contractors, the Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered an immediate fraud audit of all flood-control projects in Bulacan, the province that received the largest share of infrastructure funding in Central Luzon.
In a memorandum dated August 12, COA Chair Gamaliel Cordoba cited findings from the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website, which revealed that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) implemented ₱548 billion worth of flood-control projects nationwide from the start of the Marcos administration on July 1, 2022, to May 30, 2025.
Out of this, Central Luzon cornered ₱98 billion, or 18% of the total, with Bulacan alone receiving ₱44 billion, nearly half of the region’s allocation.
“Given the critical issues raised by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. regarding the implementation of these projects, particularly in the Province of Bulacan, a fraud audit is an immediate and unequivocal necessity,” Cordoba stressed.
He directed supervising auditors and audit team leaders in DPWH’s Central Luzon district engineering offices to turn over all documents in their custody to the Fraud Audit Office and be ready to assist investigators “at any time during the audit.”
This order comes just days after Marcos himself blasted an unfinished ₱96.4-million flood-control project in Calumpit, Bulacan, calling out contractor St. Timothy Construction Corp. for alleged negligence and betrayal of public trust.