Photo source: Philippine News Agency (PNA)
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has identified 252 “ghost” flood control projects out of the thousands it was ordered to inspect to aid in criminal case buildup.
The AFP said it had inspected 10,000 flood control projects approved from 2016 to the present and found 252 of them to be nonexistent.
The military will inspect 20,000 more similar projects and submit its findings to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
“It turned out that the total of around 252 of these that we have inspected are ghost projects from 2016 to present,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said at a briefing.
She did not provide details on the “ghost” projects, such as their costs or locations.
AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. is part of a technical working group on asset recovery and case buildup under the ICI.
The ICI is investigating allegations of collusion among senators, congressmen, public works officials, and private contractors to pocket billions of pesos from flood control projects.
“We continue to conduct inspections on our end to fulfill the requirement to inspect all assigned projects,” Padilla said.
Padilla said the AFP, together with the Philippine National Police (PNP), is consolidating reports on the nonexistent projects for submission to the ICI.
“We cannot really home in on a particular place or region, but rest assured that we will be providing a complete report to the ICI to facilitate and fast-track their investigation,” she added.
