MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has opened an investigation into roughly ₱60 billion worth of flood control projects built across Cebu province over the past six years, after flooding recurred in the province in recent weeks despite the spending. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla visited Cebu City on Aug. 10 to inspect project sites and announced the probe would examine whether the recurring floods stemmed from poor design, faulty execution, or corruption, according to reports by Philstar.com and The Manila Times.
"That's a lot of money to control the flooding, but apparently, [in] the past month, flooding happened again here in Cebu," Remulla told reporters during a press conference following a town hall meeting with Ombudsman-Visayas employees, as quoted by The Manila Times. "We have to look at what's happening. Is it the design? Is it the execution? Or is it just corruption? We will find out and we will know."
Remulla said about 20 to 25 percent of the ₱60-billion allocation — accounts differ slightly between Philstar.com and The Manila Times — went to Cebu's 7th District, which covers Alcantara, Alegria, Badian, Dumanjug, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Moalboal and Ronda, while roughly a quarter of the total went to a single contractor. He did not name the contractor or any individuals suspected of wrongdoing, saying the office first needs sufficient evidence. "We cannot file cases just like that. Or put people in jail just like that. We need the evidence," he said.
The probe will scrutinize the Department of Public Works and Highways' Central Visayas regional office and the district engineers who oversaw the projects. Remulla said investigators will conduct lifestyle checks on some DPWH engineers and examine contractors for possible bid-rigging, and will use digital tools — including project coordinates and records — to verify whether reported flood control structures actually exist, meet technical specifications, or are "ghost" projects. The review will extend beyond Cebu to other parts of the Visayas, including Bohol and Tacloban, he said.
Remulla, who did not immediately respond to a request for further comment, said the Ombudsman-Visayas office plans to hire 20 additional lawyers to handle fact-finding, prosecution, and criminal investigation work tied to the expanded caseload. He also renewed a call for legislation requiring government contracts, permits, salaries, and bidding processes to be digitally recorded and made publicly accessible from the barangay level up, citing mobile phones, CCTV, artificial intelligence, and social media as tools that could improve transparency.
As of this report, DPWH's Central Visayas regional office and the named contractors have not issued a public response to the specific findings cited by Remulla. Pulpulitiko was unable to independently verify the identity of the contractor Remulla said received roughly a quarter of the ₱60-billion allocation.
Context
The Cebu probe is the latest local offshoot of the nationwide flood-control corruption scandal that erupted in 2025, which has already triggered Ombudsman investigations, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, and a string of Sandiganbayan cases over ghost and substandard DPWH projects nationwide. Cebu's 2025 flooding killed at least 139 people, a death toll that prompted local reporting scrutinizing why drainage infrastructure that had already been funded failed to prevent the disaster. The broader collapse in public confidence over flood-control spending has also weighed on the economy: government data cited in earlier Pulpulitiko reporting showed public construction spending falling sharply in 2026 as agencies grew reluctant to approve new infrastructure disbursements amid the graft crackdown.