Photo credit: PCO

A flood control project in Baliwag, Bulacan has been unmasked as a “ghost project” after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. personally inspected the site and found nothing but empty ground where a reinforced concrete river wall was supposed to stand.

Official receipts show that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office released more than ₱55.7 million to Syms Construction Trading for the construction of a river wall in Purok 4, Barangay Piel. Records declared the project as 100 percent complete and fully paid as early as June 2025.

But when the President visited the area following a report submitted through sumbongsapangulo.ph, the reality was starkly different. “No wall, no materials, no equipment—nothing was ever built,” Marcos said, calling it a clear case of a ghost project.

The reinforced concrete river wall was meant to serve as vital flood protection for the community. Instead, the people of Baliwag were left with no infrastructure, despite millions of pesos in public funds already spent.

This revelation raises serious concerns over accountability within the DPWH district office and the contractor involved. With documents confirming payment yet no physical work on the ground, the case underscores the urgent need for tighter monitoring of government projects and harsher consequences for fraudulent practices.

For residents of Barangay Piel, what should have been a safeguard against flooding has turned into a symbol of wasted public funds—an unfinished promise that never even began.