Probe finds paid-but-unbuilt farm roads, flood defences in sweep on 'ghost' projectsLast updated: May 21, 2026 | 11:485 MIN READA crumbling flood control infrastructure in the Philippines: Investigations reveal that lawmakers pocket as much as 30% to 40% of project costs as kickbacks (known as "tongpats", or "obligasyon"), while district engineers they handpick play key roles in the scheme. One report states there are 472 suspected "ghost" projects in the Philippines, fully paid by Filipino taxpayers, in but were never built.CE Board Exam Study Group | FBManila: At least two infrastructure projects worth ₱186.8 million fully paid by Filipino taxpayers but turned out to be non-existent — or "ghosts" — are now the subject of court battles, amid an ongoing crackdown on infrastructure anomalies tied to politicians.One project, worth ₱94 million, involves a "farm-to-market road" in Davao Occidental in Mindanao, and another involves flood defences worth at ₱92.8. million in Pandi, Bulacan (near Manila) in Luzon. 'Ghost' farm-to-market road in MindanaoThe Philippine government has filed corruption complaints against public works officials and private contractors over nearly ₱94 million worth of alleged “ghost” farm-to-market road projects in the southern province of Davao Occidental.The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday it lodged eight complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman after a seven-month investigation into projects that were reportedly certified as completed and fully paid despite showing little to no physical construction on the ground.472 suspected 'ghost' projects: Following nationwide inspections from 2025 through 2026, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and law enforcement flagged up to 472 suspected "ghost" flood control projects. Out of those, 14 have been officially confirmed as completely non-existent, with plunder and graft cases already filed at the Sandiganbayan against several lawmakers, contractors, and public works officials. Philippines Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the cases involved DPWH officials assigned to the Davao Occidental district engineering office, including District Engineer Rodrigo Larete, Project Engineer and Officer-in-Charge Joel Lumogdang, Officer-in-Charge Assistant District Engineer Michael Awa, Quality Assurance Officer Jafel Faunillan and Acting Finance Chief Czar Ryan Ubungen, along with several contractors.Anti-graft lawThe complaints accuse the respondents of violations of the anti-graft law, malversation of public funds, falsification of public documents, grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.At the center of the cases are several farm-to-market road projects in the municipality of Jose Abad Santos and nearby villages, with individual contract values ranging from about ₱10 million to nearly ₱15 million.According to the DA, officials and contractors allegedly falsified Statements of Work Accomplished, certificates of payment, project status reports and disbursement vouchers to make it appear that the roads had been completed, allowing government funds to be released.One of the projects cited was an ₱11.94-million road project in Barangay Caburan that investigators said had been paid in full despite not being executed.“There’s nothing there,” Tiu Laurel told reporters. “You see a dirt road where people and tricycles pass, but there’s no cement, no steel, nothing.”Accused can get good lawyersThe agriculture chief said the agency spent months building what he described as a “solid” case before filing the complaints.“They can get good lawyers, so we really had to prepare,” he said, adding that investigators gathered extensive documentary and field evidence during the probe.The roads were supposed to have been built in 2021 under the government’s "farm-to-market" road program, a flagship rural infrastructure initiative intended to reduce transport costs for farmers and improve access to markets.The secretary said the missing projects deprived farming communities of badly needed infrastructure that could have lowered logistics expenses and travel time for transporting crops.“Farmers have waited a long time for these roads that were promised to them,” he said.The DA also filed a separate complaint involving another ₱11.92-million farm-to-market road in Barangay Caburan that was allegedly certified as completed despite validation by the DA’s Internal Audit Service showing no implementation.Closer scrutiny of sham projectsAdditional complaints involve projects in the villages of Culaman, Datu Danwata, Demoloc, Tical and Manuel Peralta.The cases come as the Marcos administration intensifies scrutiny of infrastructure and procurement projects following a series of investigations into alleged misuse of public funds across several agencies.He added that investigators are also examining another suspected ghost project in Guinobatan, Albay province.The DA is likewise investigating whether local agriculture personnel participated in the alleged scheme after auditors discovered what officials described as fake supporting documents tied to some projects.20 'ghost' roadsAssistant Agriculture Secretary Arnel de Mesa said auditors validated 1,241 farm-to-market road projects nationwide and found that 20 had not been implemented despite documentation indicating completion.The questionable projects were spread across Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao and the Davao region, he said.Farm-to-market roads are among the Philippine government’s largest rural infrastructure investments. The DA said it has allocated ₱33-billion for about 1,600 such projects in 2026, covering roughly 2,300 kilometers nationwide.According to the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering’s transparency portal, the government funded 6,428 farm-to-market road projects worth ₱109.53 billion from 2021 to 2026, with more than 3,100 projects reportedly completed.'Ghost' flood control project in LuzonIn a related case, funds for a controversial ₱92.8-million flood control project in Pandi town in Bulacan, north of Manila were released despite allegedly defective billing documents, a senior official of the DPWH testified before the anti-graft court, known as "Sandiganbayan".Pandi is a 2nd-class urban municipality in the central-eastern portion of Bulacan, Philippines, sitting at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. It lies roughly 31 km northeast of Manila and is bounded by Santa Maria, Angat, Bustos, and Balagtas.During the April 22 bail hearing involving ex-senator Bong Revilla and several co-accused, DPWH finance director Genevieve Cuaresma told the court that key payment records lacked the required signatures of project engineers.Associate Justice Ronald Moreno questioned Cuaresma about the project’s monthly Certificate of Payment and Statement of Work Accomplished (SOWA), which should have been signed by former assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez and district engineer Henry Alcantara.Asked how she viewed the unsigned payment certificate, Cuaresma replied:“This is incomplete, illegal, and should not have been paid.”She gave the same assessment regarding the unsigned SOWA, saying it was likewise “incomplete and illegal to pay.”The SOWA nonetheless declared the project “95.17 percent” complete — allegedly just 21 days after work began.A recent Sandiganbayan staff's site inspection reportedly found no visible flood-control structures at the stated project site except several steel sheet piles, fueling allegations that the supposed infrastructure project was a “ghost project.”Revilla, a popular movie star who lost his latest bid for a Senate seat in 2025, skipped the hearing after reportedly suffering a migraine, according to his spokesperson.Although he already posted bail for his graft case, he remains detained at a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Quezon City because the malversation charge against him is non-bailable.In Zamboanga del Norte, a road was also "built" and reported as "completed" but without concrete, making it unusable. According to Agriculture Secretary Laurel, this was reported to President Marcos following an audit launched on September 18 which showed signs of anomaly.Department of Agriculture's targets DA targets 131,000 km of farm-to-market roads but still has a backlog of 61,000 km. For 2026, ₱16 billion is allocated for 1,067 km of roads — far from the agency's requested ₱56 billion — although an additional ₱40 billion is expected from transferred "flood control" funds.Get Updates on Topics You ChooseUp Next