The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) recorded over 400 ghost flood control projects across the country.

In a press conference on Thursday, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon announced that as of October 6, the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) has validated a total of 8,000 projects all over the country.

"The president instructed the DEPDev, AFP and PNP to help and we submitted an initial report. We brief the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) of our initial findings," he said.

"As of Oct 6. initially 8,000 projects all over the country were validated, out of 8,000, the navalidate ghost projects by the AFP, PNP and DEPDev are 421," he added.

Dizon said that most ghost projects were found in Luzon.

Following the submission of the initial report, Dizon expressed hope that the government will be able to immediately file cases against those who are involved in the ghost projects noting that its case build up will be easier.

"Our agreement is logical, ghost projects are low-hanging fruit, meaning it is easy to establish the liability and accountability of ghost projects, the case build up will not be too long, hopefully we will be able to fast track the filing of cases with ICI," he said.

Brian Hosaka, spokesperson of the ICI, said the commission has suggested to the DPWH to reduce the projects' contract costs by half so that procurement of civil works could be controlled.

Rodolfo Azurin Jr., the special adviser of the commission, said investigation on these ghost projects will be done next week. He said he will be seeking the help of the police and military.

No less than the newly appointed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the flood control scandal is the biggest scam facing the Philippines.

Remulla, who took his oath as the newest Ombudsman Thursday, said he will swiftly file charges against those involved in the flood control scandal. Robina Asido/DMS