Arrest Warrants Issued in P96.5-Million Ghost Flood Control Project Scam in Davao Occidental

Arrest warrants for contractor Cezarah "Sarah" Discaya, former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office in Davao, and several others have been issued in connection with a P96.5-million "ghost" flood control project in Davao Occidental, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday.

The President, in a video message, said the warrants were for the non-bailable charges of graft and malversation filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

"I would like to inform you that the court has issued arrest warrants for the 10 main personalities involved in the anomalous project. The accused are facing graft and malversation charges. These cases are not bailable," he said in Filipino.

"This includes Sarah Discaya who is currently under the custody of the NBI. Apart from this, there are eight officials of the DPWH who have expressed their intention to surrender," he added.

The President said the filing of cases and issuance of arrest warrants is just the start of efforts to go after those involved in the anomalies. "We will ensure that not only will they be prosecuted, but the money will be returned, that what our countrymen paid will be returned to the treasury of our country," he said.

On December 9, the President said arrest warrants for Discaya, Maria Roma Angeline Remando of the St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and DPWH Davao regional officials, would be issued, in connection with cases of malversation through falsification of public documents and violation of the Anti-Graft Practices Act filed by the Ombudsman for a ghost flood control project in Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental.

Marcos has said the P96.5-million project was awarded to St. Timothy on Jan. 13, 2022 and was supposedly completed in the same year. But inspection by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group on Sept. 25, 2025 showed the project was never started despite claims and supposed photos, videos, and documents saying it has been completed.

After Marcos’ announcement, Discaya appeared before the NBI and voluntarily surrendered.

The Commission on Audit-Fraud Audit Office (COA-FAO) has tagged four flood control projects in Bulacan, worth P330.5 million and awarded to private contractor Wawao Builders, as "ghost projects" after onsite inspections found no structure exists in designated grid locations in the province.

Wawao Builders is among 15 contractors awarded over P100 billion worth of flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

During a Senate committee hearing in August, then-Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said there were suspected ghost projects in some engineering districts of Bulacan.

The Bureau of Immigration, meanwhile, said on Thursday that Bonoan has no record of having returned to the country since he left for the US via Taiwan on November 11 to accompany his wife for a medical procedure.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said Bonoan was supposed to return on December 17.

"Records show that he (Bonoan) has not returned to the Philippines to date (December 18), despite indicating the December 17, 2025 as his return date in his letter, through counsel on November 10, 2025," she said.

Bonoan furnished a letter to the BI of his date of return to the country because he is under an immigration lookout bulletin order. He is being linked to anomalous infrastructure projects.

The COA’s fraud office submitted four separate audit reports to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure on Dec. 17, 2025 seeking further investigation into suspected collusion between officials of the DPWH – Bulacan First District Engineering Office (DPWH-Bulacan First DEO) and Wawao executives.

COA-FAO identified the projects as the P77.2-million "Construction of Riverbank Protection Structure" at Barangay Calero, Malolos City; P99-million "Construction of Riverbank Protection Structure (Phase 3)" in Barangay Malis, Guiguinto town; P77.2-million "Construction of Flood Mitigation Structure" along Bulusan in Calumpit town; and P77.12-million "Construction of Riverbank Protection Structure" in Barangay Namayan in Malolos City.

"COA found no concrete flood-mitigation or slope-protection structures at the approved site, despite documents indicating the projects were 100% complete," the audit team said.

It added that personnel of the DPWH-Bulacan First DEO deliberately tried to lead the inspection team astray by bringing them to locations that were "entirely different from what was indicated in the plans and the contract."

It highlighted the absence of key documents that would have established the legitimacy of the projects such as "statements of work accomplished," "as-built plans," variation order documentation, and master plans/straight-line diagrams. It said the failure to include these documents undermined the credibility of the reported accomplishments and released payments.

Held liable for the irregularities were district engineer Henry Alcantara, engineers Brice Ericson Hernandez, Ernesto Galang, Jaypee Mendoza, Paul Jayson Duya, Jolo Mari Tayao, Lemuel Ephraim SD Roque, and Sheena Bernadette Morales; and Wawao Builders representative Mark Allan Arevalo.

Alcantara, Hernandez, and Galang are among several former DPWH officials facing charges in connection with the flood projects mess.

Last September, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon sought indictments for malversation of public funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Alcantara, Hernandez, Mendoza and several others. ❤️