The widening investigation into the country’s flood control anomalies took a dramatic turn as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure signaled that as many as 1,200 individuals may soon be facing criminal liability. Commissioner Rogelio “Babes” Singson revealed that early case mapping shows an average of 15 potentially accountable players per suspicious project, a number that multiplies quickly across the 80 flood control works already under scrutiny.
What began as scattered complaints has now turned into what investigators describe as a sprawling network of fixers, contractors, government insiders, and technical personnel who may have allowed or abetted ghost projects and padded contracts for nearly a decade.
Singson, drawing on his own experience at the helm of the Department of Public Works and Highways, noted that the investigation focused squarely on projects linked to contractors repeatedly flagged by the President. With the scale of evidence and paperwork expected to surge, the commission acknowledged that the Ombudsman will be handling one of the single largest corruption referrals in recent years.
Intelligence-gathering units from the police and military have been deployed to verify field reports, cross-check actual sites, and locate missing documentation, with officials anticipating a new wave of files starting next week.
The probe is gaining momentum just as the first criminal cases tied to the broader scandal have been filed. The Ombudsman recently lodged malversation and graft charges against former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co, former DPWH officials, and executives of Sunwest Construction over a controversial road-dike project in Oriental Mindoro worth more than P280 million. Co’s camp has dismissed the development as expected, arguing that investigators had already made up their minds long before charges materialized.
But the political temperature climbed even higher when the ICI and the DPWH jointly recommended the filing of plunder, graft, and bribery complaints against Co and Leyte First District Representative and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The recommendation covers an estimated P100 billion worth of government contracts awarded from 2016 to 2025 to companies linked to Co, primarily Sunwest and Hi Tone Construction. Investigators say these firms were repeatedly favored in flood control bidding cycles despite persistent red flags, including questionable project billings, incomplete site works, and a pattern of cost escalations.
Sources familiar with the review describe a system where political influence, regional networks, and entrenched relationships allowed contractors to secure advantage after advantage, leaving taxpayers to shoulder bloated costs for flood protection structures that either underperformed or were never built at all. With the number of implicated individuals continuing to rise, the ongoing probe is shaping up to be one of the most far-reaching corruption crackdowns in the country’s recent history.
Whether the Ombudsman moves swiftly or opts for staged filings, the political and institutional fallout is already being felt. High-ranking figures insist the process is about accountability rather than politics, but behind closed doors, allies and critics alike acknowledge that the next few months will test the limits of the country’s anti-corruption machinery—and reveal how deeply the rot in infrastructure spending has spread.