The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is facing mounting criticism after releasing inconsistent data on alleged ghost and substandard projects — a move that local officials and analysts now describe as a “witch hunt across fiscal years.”
The uproar centers on the agency’s renewed scrutiny of 2021 infrastructure projects in Davao Occidental and La Union, which critics say is being used to deflect attention from controversial insertions in the 2025 national budget.
“Why backtrack to the 2021 budget while questioning the insertions for the 2025 budget?” one local executive asked. “It looks like they’re reviving old cases to justify new irregularities.”
The same official pointed out the seeming imbalance in the investigation.
“Why single out Davao Occidental when there are billions of pesos allocated to other districts with clearly questionable or irregular project implementation — yet those areas are conveniently ignored?”
According to DPWH insiders, the department is preparing to file cases before the Office of the Ombudsman against certain contractors and officials linked to flood control projects.
But discrepancies between internal records and media-released data have raised doubts about the real intent behind the probe.
Local officials insist the projects under fire were legitimate and transparent.
“All projects were DILG-funded, COA-audited, and DPWH-endorsed — nothing hidden, nothing ghost,” one official said, calling the renewed accusations “a distortion of facts for political convenience.”
Analysts warn that the DPWH’s actions could be part of a larger damage-control strategy aimed at diverting attention from the billions in questionable allocations under the 2025 spending plan.
“This looks like an old playbook — dig up cleared projects to create noise and shift focus from the present budget mess,” said a governance expert.
Observers caution that turning infrastructure audits into political weapons risks damaging public trust and undermining the very institutions meant to uphold transparency.
