AFP uncovers dozens of ghost flood-control projects

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has uncovered dozens of so-called “ghost” flood-control projects during field inspections and is offering technical assistance to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)

In a radio interview on Friday, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the AFP was tapped to inspect thousands of flood-control sites after calls from government officials and members of the public for the military to take a greater role in infrastructure work. The inspections were done after the AFP received coordinates of alleged flood-control projects from agencies requesting verification.

“Out of the 8,000 flood-control projects, I think meron pong mga (there are) around 60 na ghost projects,” Brawner said, confirming that about 60 of the sites visited by AFP units showed no actual structures where projects were supposed to exist. 

He added that the inspections are ongoing and the number could rise over time as the AFP has been tasked to check some 16,000 projects in total.

Brawner said the AFP’s engineers, historically responsible for remote and hard-to-reach road and construction work, are currently being restructured into combat engineer brigades as part of a shift toward territorial defense. 

That transformation, he explained, is designed to prepare engineers to build fortifications, protective covers, bridges, and other works needed in wartime.

Because of that change, Brawner said the military does not plan to take over nationwide construction work from the DPWH. 

Senator RobinPadilla and Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon earlier praised the quality and speed of AFP engineering works when the military handled road networks in Clark in the past. 

“Si Secretary Dizon po mismo, si Secretary Vince Dizon, ang mismong nagsabi na nung siya po ay namamahala sa Clark ay yung ating engineers po ang gumawa ng mga daan dito,” Brawner said.

("Secretary Dizon himself, Secretary Vince Dizon, said that when he was in charge of Clark, our engineers built the roads here.")

Despite those endorsements, the AFP chief stressed capacity constraints. 

“Kulang ho kasi yung ating mga engineers,” he said, explaining that the service currently cannot execute the large volume of civil-engineering projects nationwide. 

("We don't have enough engineers.")

Brawner said the AFP’s engineering manpower is limited with five brigades in the Army and one each in the Air Force and Navy.

Instead, the AFP is coordinating with the DPWH, and the military’s role is to verify whether identified projects physically exist and to report suspected ghost projects back to the civilian agency, which has the technical authority to determine whether works meet engineering specifications.

Brawner said the ghost-project findings were nationwide.

“All over po,” he said, when asked whether the phantom projects were concentrated in Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao. 

He added that AFP teams in the field have inspected locations provided by agencies and turned over their reports to the DPWH’s engineers for follow-up.

The AFP has previously assisted in similar civilian oversight work, Brawner noted, citing earlier military participation in the Barangay Development Program (BDP) inspections.

On standards and quality, Brawner stressed that the AFP can flag absent or suspicious projects but lacks the full expertise and mandate to certify engineering compliance on its own. 

“Katulad po dun sa pagplano ng mga proyekto, pag costing, pag bidding, yung implementation and inspection pwede po tayong mag, tumulong sa DPWH pero hindi po kami mismo ang gagawa,” he said. 

 ("Just like in project planning, costing, bidding, implementation, and inspection, we can help the DPWH, but we will not be the ones actually doing the work.")