Arrest of 'no-show' Filipino contractors at Senate probe sought

Manila: By law, the Philippine Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) can subpoena anyone to testify or produce relevant documents (or evidence) for an inquiry in aid of legislation.

They can also have that person arrested. 

Still, the joke making the rounds in the Philippines goes like this:

“What’s DPWH again? Oh, not Department of Public Works and Highways anymore… It’s now ‘Daming Pera, Walang Hirap’ — or in English, ‘Piles of Cash, No Sweat'.”

Even as the Senate drums up calls for tighter oversight, contractors (with their politician backers in tow) keep slipping away from accountability. That leaves Filipinos stuck with flood-control projects that turned out to be soggy lemons.

Between 2011 and 2025, Filipino taxpayers funded ₱1.47 trillion ($25.7 billion) worth of flood control projects, as per official data.

Just for 2025, the outlay amounts to ₱350 billion ($6.1 billion).

The Philippines had 211,000+ registered civil engineers as of December 2024. Every year, the Asian nation produces an average of 8,700 new licensed civil engineers.

Now there's a huge rush to complete funded projects everywhere in the country.

Why?

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had visited a non-existent ₱55.7-million concrete "river wall" in Purok 4, Barangay Piel, Baliuag, Bulacan, implemented by SYMS Construction Trading.

This project was marked as "completed" and fully paid by June 2025 but showed no construction during a surprise inspection.

To an 11-year-old grade schooler, something does not add up here.

Filipinos simply resort to sarcasm to hide their frustration over the poor state of the country’s roads and lemon projects, where they're actually built.

Persistent flooding indicates that the money is misallocated or stolen, with kickbacks estimated at 30%; in some cases, up to 50%, leaving substandard or “ghost” projects, according to analyst JC Punongbayan.

Philippine Senator Raffy Tulfo made an even bolder claim: He says many projects get severely shaken-down, leaving only 13.5% of the budget for actual construction.

Following severe flooding episodes across the country, probes into “ghost” and leaky flood-control infrastructure are front and centre of public discourse.

They’re signs of a deeper malaise.

The real culprit: an enduring culture of kickbacks, and the "soft" (i.e. forgiving) culture of Filipinos vis-a-vis theft of public funds by some of their leaders, both elected and career, and a lack of system of accountability where erring officials are actually penalised.

The flipside: people are entertained by videos shared on social media showing jet-setting family members of contractors and politicians flaunting their profligate lifestyle.

Gerald Lacuarta, in a column for The Voice Newsweekly, describes the kickback culture as a “deluge of deceit,” where bids are rigged and funds siphoned off.

Some Senators have started combing through "completed" contracts and tried to take several steps to address these issues:

Blue Ribbon Committee probe

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (chaired by Independent Senator Rodante Marcoleta) launched a probe called “Philippines Under Water” in August 2025 to look into alleged irregularities in flood control projects. The committee has held hearings to examine ghost projects, substandard works, and contract favouritism.

Subpoenas issued

The Senate also issued subpoenas to 10 of the 15 contractors who secured the bulk of flood control contracts since 2022, after they ignored the initial hearings. 

Senators have threatened to have the no-show contractors arrested.

A line-by-line and geolocated check of their contracts show interesting interlocks between politicians, contractors, and election campaign donations.

Senator Panfilo Lacson delivered a speech titled “Flooded Gates of Corruption” on August 20, 2025, exposing construction "syndicates" and systemic corruption patterns – including identical contract prices and collusion. 

Senators like Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan have supported local executives’ demands for greater transparency in project allocation and implementation. Senator Grace Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 1090 to investigate the DPWH’s underutilised flood control budget.

Calls for reforms are ringing out. Drastic measures (more severe punishment for erring contractors) are sought to discourage lemons, limit kickbacks and ensure public works projects are executed as per specs and within budget.

Other senators, like Jinggoy Estrada and Raffy Tulfo, have demanded accountability and prosecution. 

Areas of proposed reform include the following:

Public frustration over unpunished corruption is palpable.

But ordinary Filipinos have deep toleration for such official infractions; most are resigned to the fact that the speeches and cries for reform will simply die a natural death, washed away by a flood of happy social media posts.

The same sweet-talking politicians will continue their reign, in cahoots with contractors behind the ghosts and lemons.

As the cozy tango between politicians and contractors begins to unravel, the unspoken hope seems to be: ordinary Filipinos will just shrug it off — what Lee Kuan Yew once dubbed our “soft” culture — tolerate the kickbacks, cruise along Third World-grade highways with forced cheer, and brace themselves, yet again, for the next flood to wash it all away.

The probe into alleged anomalies in flood-control projects revealed that 8 of the top 15 contractors secured ₱100 billion ($1.75 billion) worth of contracts.

These contractors, identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as having cornered 20% of the ₱545 billion flood-control budget since 2022, either ignored the Senate’s invitation or provided excuses for their absence.

The Senate approved subpoenas for the following no-show contractors to compel their attendance at subsequent hearings.

The absent contractors are:

Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero confirmed the subpoenas were signed on August 26, 2025. Senators, including Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Jinggoy Estrada, expressed frustration over the no-shows. Estrada also questioned Alpha & Omega’s connections to the DPWH.