Mayor Urges NBI to Investigate Alleged Fake DPWH Flood Control Projects in San Carlos City
SAN CARLOS CITY – What was presented as major flood control works in Negros Occidental has been debunked as “ghost projects,” according to San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo, who is seeking an NBI investigation.
San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo has urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to launch a full probe into three alleged “ghost” flood control projects worth P306.4 million. The projects were supposedly implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in collaboration with contractors from the Cordillera region.
“These anomalous ghost projects involving millions or even billions of pesos perpetrated by DPWH personnel in cahoots with unscrupulous contractors must be thoroughly investigated so that those responsible will be flushed out and be held accountable,” Gustilo said in a letter addressed to NBI Director Jaime Santiago dated August 18.
The issue came to light when DPWH Central Office Procurement Service Director Ma. Victoria Gregorio sent multiple letters to Gustilo between March and June, asking him to verify the authenticity of certain documents tied to the three projects. The mayor was taken aback, stating there were “no existing record pertaining to the to construction of flood control projects at Andoon River, Jigalaman River and Palampas River in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, by the contractors named by Gregorio.”
DPWH records showed the following projects: a P151.5-million Palampas River flood control project in Barangay 1 under APO General Construction of Mountain Province; a P77.5-million Andoon River project in Poblacion awarded to EKC Construction and Aggregates from Benguet; and a P77.3-million Jigalaman River project in Barangay Guadalupe carried out by Jaben General Contracting & Engineering Services of Baguio City. These were all marked as completed between December 2023 and January 2024.
Gustilo insisted that none of these projects were ever undertaken in San Carlos City. He revealed that both his signature and that of Engineer Rodney Flores of the City Engineer’s Office were falsified on official documents, including certificates of completion. “Flores was not the San Carlos City Engineer, not even an OIC-City Engineer, at the time he allegedly affixed his signature, because he was and still is Engineer III at the City Engineering Department,” the mayor stressed.
According to the report, he also flagged inconsistencies in the notarization of contracts, which bore the name of a supposed notary public, “Maria Luisa Cecilia E. Garcia.” Gustilo clarified, “To the best of my knowledge there is no Notary Public bearing such a name here in San Carlos City.”
The mayor cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address, which denounced irregularities in flood control projects, as further grounds for investigation. To strengthen his request, he submitted certifications confirming that the contractors mentioned in the DPWH documents are not accredited suppliers or contractors in San Carlos City’s official records.
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