💰 PHANTOM FLOOD PROJECTS EXPOSED! BIR SLAMS ‘CORRUPTION AT ITS MOST SHAMELESS’ AS CONTRACTORS ARE CHARGED WITH $248,000 TAX FRAUD FOR ‘GHOST’ BULACAN INFRASTRUCTURE! 🚨

THE VANISHING WALLS: A TALE OF TWO GHOST PROJECTS

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has unleashed a devastating crackdown on corruption, filing criminal tax evasion charges against two construction firms accused of orchestrating a brazen scheme: billing the government for critical flood control projects in Bulacan that simply do not exist.

The total assessed tax deficiency against the two firms—IM Construction Corp. and SYMS Construction Trading—and their responsible officers is a staggering PHP13.8 million (approximately $248,000 USD). This is not just a case of simple underpayment; according to the BIR, this is a clear-cut case of deliberate, calculated fraud designed to evade taxes while simultaneously misusing public funds.

The investigation exposes a shocking pattern of corporate deception, where life-saving infrastructure was replaced by fictitious paperwork:

Case 1: IM Construction Corp. (Hagonoy, Bulacan)

The Project: Building a pumping station and flood gate in Barangay Sto. Rosario.

The Reality: Physical verification confirmed that “no structure of any kind was built.”

The Fraud: Despite zero accomplishment, IM Construction filed tax returns claiming project costs, deductions, and input taxes that were “entirely fictitious.”

Case 2: SYMS Construction Trading (Baliuag, Bulacan)

The Project: Construction of a reinforced river wall in Barangay Piel.

The Reality: Inspections verified that “no reinforced river wall was constructed on the site.” The company collected 100 percent of the contract amount.

The Fraud: The BIR stated that because the project had “no actual accomplishment,” the taxpayer had “no legal basis to claim deductions or input taxes.” Their false filings were a clear attempt to conceal income derived from a fully-paid but non-existent government project.

THE BIR COMMISSIONER’S INDIGNATION: ‘SHAMELESS CORRUPTION’

BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza did not mince words, delivering a scathing indictment of the charged contractors. His statement reveals a profound sense of outrage that transcends mere legal protocol and cuts straight to the moral core of the offense.

“They took public money meant to protect families from flooding, and built nothing. That is corruption at its most shameless.”

Mendoza’s description of the crime—stealing funds intended for critical infrastructure that protects lives—underscores the severity of the alleged offense. This is not victimless white-collar crime; the true victims are the vulnerable families in Bulacan who remain exposed to flood risks because of this greed.

The charges filed—Violation of Section 254 (Tax Evasion) and Section 255 (Willful Failure to Supply Correct and Accurate Information) of the National Internal Revenue Code—are a direct assault on the financial foundation of these companies, seeking not only imprisonment for the responsible officers but the recovery of all evaded funds.

THE BROADER CRACKDOWN: AN INTENSIFIED HUNT

These two cases are just the tip of an iceberg in a much larger, intensified campaign by the BIR to dismantle syndicates engaging in “ghost projects and fraudulent tax practices.”

Commissioner Mendoza made it clear that the BIR is committed to a relentless pursuit of all offenders: “The BIR will not allow contractors to enrich themselves through fake projects and falsified tax filings. We will pursue every offender, recover every peso, and continue filing criminal charges until this practice ends.”

The BIR has already filed a total of 12 criminal complaints related to anomalous flood-control projects, with the estimated potential tax liabilities ballooning to a staggering PHP8.87 billion—a figure that suggests the scale of this corruption scheme is immense and national in scope.

The agency is currently conducting expanded audits of all related contractors and individuals, signaling that more criminal complaints are imminent. This is a deliberate, strategic message to every contractor attempting to misuse public money: the government is watching, and the financial and legal consequences will be severe.

A QUESTION OF INTEGRITY: THE COST OF LIES

The scandal serves as a horrifying reminder of the lack of integrity plaguing public infrastructure spending. Funds desperately needed for flood mitigation—a life-and-death necessity in flood-prone regions like Bulacan—were allegedly siphoned off through a sophisticated web of falsified declarations and non-existent structures.

The failure to build a pumping station or a reinforced river wall translates directly into continued suffering and risk for thousands of Filipino families. The BIR’s aggressive pursuit of the tax evasion aspect of this corruption is a crucial tactical maneuver, using the financial crimes code as a powerful weapon to dismantle fraudulent operations that undermine public trust and endanger lives.

The fight against ghost projects has become a fight for accountability and public safety. The courts must now decide the fate of these contractors, whose greed allegedly left communities exposed, and whose audacity in filing “entirely fictitious” tax documents has now brought the full force of the government down upon them. The BIR’s promise is clear: the pursuit of justice for the vanishing walls of Bulacan has just begun.