By Nimfa L. Estrellado-Laurino NBI Director Melvin Matibag examines boxes of DPWH records submitted as investigators widen their review ...
By Nimfa L. Estrellado-Laurino
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| NBI Director Melvin Matibag examines boxes of DPWH records submitted as investigators widen their review of flood-control projects, with Quezon among the areas identified for examination. |
LUCENA CITY, Quezon — Unidentified flood-control projects in Quezon Province are among those being recently examined by the National Bureau of Investigation as scrutiny of government infrastructure spending expands across several parts of the country. The bureau has not disclosed which Quezon projects, municipalities, contractors or implementing offices are covered, leaving the specific scope and basis of the local examination publicly unresolved.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag identified Quezon alongside Bulacan, Mindoro, Cebu, Tarlac and La Union as areas where flood-control projects are undergoing examination amid the bureau’s wider infrastructure investigation. The confirmed development for Quezon is limited to its inclusion in that review because the NBI has not publicly declared any particular project in the province irregular, substandard or nonexistent.
The disclosure leaves significant local questions unanswered, including which flood-control contracts attracted investigators’ attention, what information triggered their examination and whether physical inspections have already occurred in Quezon. Published reports identifying the province among the areas under review have not specified the affected municipalities, contract values, private contractors or DPWH offices responsible for implementing the projects.
Matibag has maintained that the NBI is examining flood-control concerns beyond Davao City as evidence and project records emerge from different parts of the country. His explanation emphasized that investigators are pursuing available evidence rather than limiting scrutiny to projects connected with one locality or political jurisdiction.
“So, Davao is only one of the many areas we are looking into because every piece of evidence submitted to the NBI deserves the same level of examination. Lahat po ng may ebidensyang dumarating sa amin ay iniimbestigahan namin, regardless of location, so we can determine whether there are irregularities that require further action,” Matibag said.
Quezon remains far less detailed in the NBI’s public disclosures than Davao City, where investigators have already inspected projects, obtained government records and identified works requiring closer examination. Those findings show the type of physical and documentary checks the bureau can undertake elsewhere, but they do not establish that similar irregularities exist in any Quezon project.
In Davao City, the NBI said 51 of approximately 100 inspected flood-control projects carried red flags, while six were considered strong candidates for possible ghost or undelivered projects. Investigators also found repeated funding entries tied to the same geographic coordinates, prompting closer examination of whether appropriations, project titles and completed works corresponded with government records.
That investigation has involved project specifications, inspection reports, Commission on Audit findings and records identifying people who accepted completed works, illustrating the documentary trail investigators can examine before assigning responsibility. Matibag stressed that suspicious records or the location of a project alone are insufficient to establish criminal liability without evidence connecting individuals to possible wrongdoing.
“Engineer Cordon is here, together with other employees, and they have brought the documents we requested so our investigators can examine the records in detail. [There are] about 10 boxes of documents that we will review one by one to determine what happened with these projects and whether the evidence supports further investigation,” Matibag said.
Evidence supporting possible criminal violations may eventually be referred to the Department of Justice for further investigation or brought directly before the Office of the Ombudsman for appropriate proceedings. Quezon has not publicly reached that stage because the NBI has confirmed its inclusion in the examination without announcing project-specific findings or identifying anyone responsible for an alleged violation.
The central accountability issue for Quezon now concerns which publicly funded flood-control projects are under examination, how much government money they involved and what prompted investigators to scrutinize them. Until the NBI releases those project-level details, Quezon’s confirmed inclusion establishes official scrutiny but does not establish wrongdoing by any contractor, public official, implementing agency or government office.
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