Teachers slam ‘unforgivable betrayal’ after ex-DPWH engineer admits Bulacan projects all substandard

MANILA, Philippines — An admission in the Senate that every public works project in Bulacan's first district has been compromised by kickbacks has outraged two teachers’ groups, who said the deliberate construction of unsafe school buildings and other facilities is a "grave and unforgivable betrayal." 

In separate statements on Tuesday, September 23, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines and the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said the testimony by the former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer laid bare how corruption has systematically robbed schools of much-needed classrooms and exposed students and teachers to danger.

"We raise the alarm over the shocking revelation in the Senate earlier today that all infrastructure projects under the DPWH First District Engineering Office of Bulacan since 2019 have been substandard—including classrooms and hospitals," TDC Chairperson Benjo Basas said.

"This is a grave and unforgivable betrayal, for it is our children who use these buildings every day, their safety, health and education placed in danger by the greed of public officials and their cohorts," he added.

Former DPWH Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez told senators yesterday that from at least 2019 to 2025, all projects under his office — from roads and flood control structures to school buildings and hospitals — failed to meet their exact design specifications because funds were diverted to kickbacks.

Hernandez said cost-cutting measures were done to different aspects of the projects — which are believed to have ultimately affected their quality — to allow officials and contractors to get percentages of the funds allotted. 

Senators had pressed him to explain how materials were downgraded to cut costs. Hernandez admitted contractors used cheaper, weaker concrete and sometimes shortened project lengths.

Hernandez also testified that projects were routinely overpriced, with inflated material quantities and bloated budgets to cover commissions.

An example of a substandard project would involve buying concrete that should be dry within seven days, and usable within three days. Instead, Hernandez said that would buy concrete that took longer to set because it was cheaper. 

The former DPWH engineer, however, later softened his admission, saying projects were “under-designed” rather than “substandard.” 

The Bulacan first district consists of the provincial capital city of Malolos and the municipalities of Bulacan, Calumpit, Hagonoy, Paombong and Pulilan

Teachers demand accountability

ACT Philippines chairperson Vladimer Quetua said Hernandez’s statements confirmed what the group had long suspected and warned about: public works projects in government are feasted upon for kickbacks by officials and contractors.

“While officials and contractors share the public treasury, teachers and students are crowded into dilapidated and dangerous buildings and classrooms,” Quetua said in Filipino.

Quetua also lamented that while teachers and students were enduring double- and triple-shift classes in overcrowded rooms, funds to build new classrooms were just going to kickbacks.

"Not only [are classrooms] inadequate, but they are also substandard! Sloppy flood control projects are causing more flooding. Classrooms and buildings are a threat to the safety of teachers and students. Every peso pocketed is equivalent to facilities, books, and equipment denied to the education sector,” he added.

Similarly, TDC's chairperson condemned the “plunder of funds meant for social services” and demanded that all those involved in what it called a “conspiracy” be prosecuted.

“Instead of constructing safe schools, hospitals, and flood control projects, these resources were shamelessly diverted to feed a DPWH syndicate, unscrupulous businesspeople, and corrupt legislators,” Basas said.

"This is the very reason why teachers marched with thousands of outraged Filipinos last Sunday at Luneta and EDSA," the TDC chairperson added. 

Education Secretary Sonny Angara revealed on September 19 that over 1,000 classrooms built by the DPWH remained unfinished or unusable, even though some had already been turned over or even paid for in full.  

DepEd has ordered its regional and division offices to conduct an audit of all DPWH projects in their respective areas. It asked them to find potential irregularities like prolonged stoppages, structural defects, or incomplete deliveries in classroom projects.  

The DepEd field offices were ordered to reconcile their records with the DPWH, submit reports to DepEd’s education facilities division and ensure the findings are strictly monitored.

On September 18, the Office of the Ombudsman issued a six-month preventive suspension for 16 DPWH employees in Bulacan’s 1st District Engineering Office over alleged ghost and flawed flood control projects.