By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
We must be reasonably aware, or at least have an educated understanding, of how contractors secure government contracts. There’s registration with PhilGEPS, securing licenses from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, attending pre-bid conferences, buying bid documents, preparing the thick folders of requirements, submitting bids in person, showing up at bid openings, post-qualifications, contract signings, and finally, receiving a Notice to Proceed.
These are in-person engagements, most of them non-negotiable. Which means the diligence of the 15 top contractors cornering flood-control projects worth P100 billion must be impeccable. Yet when summoned to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing led by Senator Rodante Marcoleta, eight of them failed to show up. What are the chances of that?
This probe began when President Bongbong Marcos himself raised the red flag in his July 28 SONA: that only 15 firms cornered a fifth of the P545-billion flood control budget from 2022 to 2025. The figure shocked the public because the projects funded with such staggering sums have not spared communities from rising floodwaters.
The other day, the Senate convened the hearing, calling out allegations of ghost projects, overpriced contracts, and the suspicious clustering of awards. Yet on the day of reckoning, fewer than half the contractors appeared — seven out of 15.
Let’s be clear: every dike, drainage, spillway, and pumping station is a public trust. Billions meant to shield lives and livelihoods from floods are not optional construction exercises — they are lifelines. But instead of accountability, we get evasions.
Eight contractors ghosted the hearing, and DPWH itself admitted reports of ghost projects in Bulacan, tied to Wawao Builders, which bagged P9 billion worth of projects, P5.9 billion of them concentrated in that province. When pressed, Secretary Manuel Bonoan conceded, almost sheepishly, that ghost projects do exist.
Senators did not mince words. Jinggoy Estrada called the situation “nakakadiri.” Erwin Tulfo described the whole scheme as “a grand robbery,” laying bare how contractors allegedly pay 20–25% commissions upfront, leaving only scraps for actual work. JV Ejercito blasted the mismatch in allocation, and Imee Marcos exposed how many of these so-called big firms don’t even build, but merely rent out their AAA licenses.
To their credit, the senators vowed to subpoena the no-shows. That is the least this inquiry deserves. Because when billions vanish into ghost projects, it is not just taxpayers being robbed — it is entire communities left to drown.
We, the public, are watching and waiting to see if these contractors are rats on the drain. We need to flush them out or wish that they drown in the river for their crimes.
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