A court-led site visit to Barangay Bunsuran in Pandi, Bulacan turned up no evidence of a flood control project that had been reported as nearly finished — confirming what prosecutors had long argued was a ghost project at the center of graft and malversation charges against former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
The ocular inspection was led by Sandiganbayan Third Division chairman Associate Justice Karl Miranda, accompanied by representatives from the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, Ombudsman prosecutors, and defense counsel. It was conducted in connection with the bail petition hearings of the eight accused in the case.
What inspectors found at the site stood in stark contrast to progress reports that had placed the project at 95% completion. No containment wall, no revetment, and no major structures were present — only rusting sheet piles buried beneath overgrowth.
“There’s no project. It’s a ghost project,” a prosecutor said after the visit.
The prosecution declared the central question in the case effectively resolved. The result of the inspection, they said, settled the allegation that the flood control project had never been built.
Revilla, who has been detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas since surrendering in January, faces non-bailable charges alongside seven former DPWH Bulacan officials: Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, Engr. Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, Engr. Emelita Juat, Juanito Mendoza, Christina Pineda, and one other.
When charges were filed in January, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano laid out the core allegation at a press conference: “The information alleges that the respondents conspired to facilitate the release of approximately P76 million for the supposed construction of a flood control project in Puroc V, Barangay Bonsuran, Pandi, Bulacan, a project which, based on official inspection and witness accounts, was never implemented.” Clavano added that the accused had submitted completion reports despite no actual work on the ground.
The inspection was not without complications. Two prosecution witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the project’s exact location. One witness, provided by the National Bureau of Investigation, directed inspectors to an adjacent site rather than the actual project area. That neighboring property had some visible structures, though none were completed.
The Revilla case is part of a broader reckoning over flood control spending that gained traction after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for corruption investigations during his third State of the Nation Address in July 2025, when severe flooding struck Metro Manila. Congressional inquiries that followed exposed billions in losses linked to infrastructure anomalies.
