Of 1,256 projects in the Department of Public Works and Highways' Flood Management Program, 155 — worth ₱8.2 billion — failed to meet or only partly met mandatory documentary requirements, according to Senate Finance Committee chair JV Ejercito.
The Manila Times (Catherine S. Valente), reporting on September 27, said Ejercito raised the figures during budget deliberations on a DPWH proposal of ₱643 billion for 2027. The requirements at issue: geotagged photographs, Certificates of Implementability, and Programs of Work.
Paper that proves a project exists
Those three documents are not exotic. A geotagged photo shows where a project is. A Certificate of Implementability says it can actually be built where it is planned. A Program of Work says what it will cost and how. Their absence on 155 projects is what the review flagged — which, in a flood-control program that has already produced a corruption scandal, is the sort of gap that matters.
The Manila Times reported that Ejercito identified three red flags in the proposal: vague budget descriptions labeled "various projects"; lump-sum and clustered projects without implementation clarity; and project limits that are missing or inconsistent, with no stated dates or costs. He was quoted as saying: "Every delayed project has an economic cost. And every anomalous, poorly vetted project costs us even more."
The report described the review as "initial," so the 155 figure may change. Pulpulitiko could not find, in the report reviewed, any DPWH response to the 155-project finding or any explanation of why the paperwork was missing.
Context
This is a different cut of the same problem Pulpulitiko reported on September 27, when the Senate found 7,107 DPWH projects worth ₱251 billion with data anomalies, the same week senators noted Acting Secretary Vince Dizon's one-year term had technically lapsed. This week, Dizon also denied covering up Taguig flood-control anomalies after Sen. Ping Lacson cited geotagged billing photos that placed works in Leyte. Separately, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg has said the court's 26 flood-control cases are at the defense stage.
The two review figures are not the same measure and should not be added together: one is a count of data anomalies across the DPWH proposal, the other a documentary-compliance check of the flood program.
What is still unknown
It is unclear whether the 155 projects will be removed, suspended or fixed before the budget passes; whether any are already funded in the current-year budget; and which regions they fall in. Until DPWH answers, the practical position is this: ₱8.2 billion of proposed flood spending cannot yet show, on paper, that it is real, buildable and costed.
Sources
- The Manila Times (Catherine S. Valente), "Ejercito flags P8.2B non-compliant flood projects in DPWH budget," September 27, 2026 — https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/09/27/news/ejercito-flags-p82b-non-compliant-flood-projects-in-dpwh-budget/2433555
- Pulpulitiko, prior coverage on the 7,107-project anomaly finding, Dizon–Lacson exchange and Sandiganbayan flood-control cases (Sept. 27–Oct. 2, 2026)