THE NBI IS NOW FOLLOWING THE DAVAO PAPER TRAIL

This investigation is long overdue.

I had already been following questions about Davao’s public-works and flood-control spending long before this NBI subpoena came out.

PCIJ had examined Davao DPWH contracting and Genesis88 as far back as 2018, and by August 2025 the House had already said Davao would be included in the wider flood-control investigation.

Antonio Tinio later gave the issue much more detail. In September 2025, he questioned multi-year contractual authority granted to 12 relatively short revetment projects in Davao.

Two months later, his team released a review of 121 flood-control contracts implemented from 2019 to 2022.

Tinio said 80 contracts worth about ₱4.35 billion showed possible problems involving overlapping projects, possible double funding, location discrepancies, reduced project coverage and inadequate project details.

He later asked the Ombudsman to investigate up to ₱4.4 billion worth of projects.

These were allegations that needed investigation, but they gave us actual contracts and specific questions that could be checked.

Now the National Bureau of Investigation has issued a subpoena demanding records from DPWH.

I am glad it has reached this point because somebody finally has the authority to demand the documents needed to test many of those earlier questions.

The subpoena asks for bidding and financial records, exact coordinates, photographs, engineering and as-built plans, inspection reports, completion and acceptance documents, and records identifying the people who inspected and certified the projects.

For me, that puts us one step closer to accountability.

I went through the subpoena and the attached project list. Here is what I found so far.

WHAT THE NBI SAYS IT FOUND

NBI Director Melvin Matibag says investigators reviewed 100 flood-control projects in Paolo Duterte’s district and flagged 47 for further investigation.

He later clarified that around six of those 47 already appeared clearly problematic based on the documents reviewed at that stage.

Matibag also said investigators encountered suspected ghost projects, substandard work and one case involving a single set of coordinates connected to five different budgets carrying different project titles.

These remain matters under investigation, not final findings of wrongdoing.

Now look at what the NBI is demanding from DPWH.

If investigators suspect projects with the same coordinates, they need the exact locations.

Questions about what was actually constructed can be checked against engineering and as-built plans.

Inspection reports and completion certificates can show who examined the work and who certified it.

That is the kind of scrutiny these projects needed.

THE DAVAO MONEY

The ₱51-billion figure connected to Davao City’s 1st District has also been used carelessly, so I want this part stated correctly.

That amount was not all flood-control money.

DPWH Region XI released a project book covering 2020 to 2022 listing 710 infrastructure projects with allocations totaling around ₱49.8 billion.

The projects included the Davao City Coastal Road, Maa Flyover, Ulas Viaduct, Davao City Bypass Road, public buildings and other infrastructure.

DPWH said roughly ₱8 billion during that period was allocated to flood-control projects.

Eight billion pesos is still an enormous amount of public money.

Davao has continued to experience serious flooding, but I am not going to pretend that every flood proves corruption or that a particular flood-control structure failed.

Flooding has many causes, and Davao’s integrated flood-control master plan for the Davao, Matina and Talomo river basins still had no implementation funding as of July 2026.

The question I want answered is much narrower: after billions were spent on flood-control projects, what exactly was built, where was it built, and did government get what it paid for?

GENESIS88

Genesis88 Construction Inc. appears repeatedly as I follow the records.

The NBI says approximately ₱1.9 billion worth of projects in Paolo Duterte’s district were awarded to a contractor owned by someone close to the Duterte family.

Matibag said the contracts were among the records being examined, while also making clear that investigators were still gathering evidence.

PCIJ identifies businessman Glenn Escandor as the owner of Genesis88.

Its analysis of DPWH records found that Genesis88’s government business grew significantly during the Duterte years, with flood-control structures and revetments becoming a large part of its portfolio.

PCIJ reported that the value of Genesis88’s DPWH contracts reached ₱1.9 billion in 2022.

The company also appears in joint ventures with other contractors.

That is not evidence of wrongdoing by itself, and I have found no basis for claiming that the companies involved are fronts for one another.

The ownership and political connections, however, are part of the public record.

THE ESCANDOR CONNECTION

Escandor has a documented relationship with the Duterte family.

Rodrigo Duterte appointed him to assist on sports during his presidency, and PCIJ has also documented the relationship between the businessman and the former president.

There is also a campaign-finance connection that needs careful wording.

Esdevco Realty Corporation, an Escandor-linked company, contributed ₱19.9 million worth of advertisements to Sara Duterte’s 2022 vice-presidential campaign. The contribution came from Esdevco, not Genesis88.

I have found no evidence proving that the contribution resulted in Genesis88 receiving government contracts. I am not going to claim something the records do not establish.

But the relationship exists, and I see no reason to omit it while billions in government contracts are under examination.

TINIO’S QUESTIONS AND THE NBI SUBPOENA

What interests me now is how closely some of Tinio’s earlier questions line up with the records the NBI is demanding.

Tinio’s team alleged total overlaps, possible double funding, discrepancies between budgeted and implemented locations, reduced project coverage and contracts with insufficient location details. Of the 121 contracts reviewed, his team flagged 80.

The NBI is now asking for exact coordinates, as-built plans, engineering records, bidding documents, financial records, photographs and inspection reports.

Those documents can help determine whether an alleged overlap really exists, whether a project was built where the budget said it would be built, and whether the finished work matches what government approved.

The repeated river names in the records do not prove anything by themselves. A single river can legitimately have many projects covering different banks, sections and stations.

The coordinates are what interest me.

Matibag says investigators found one case involving five budgets connected to the same coordinates under different project titles. Before drawing any conclusion, I want to see those contracts and locations.

THE GOVERNMENT’S OWN RATINGS SHOULD ALSO BE CHECKED

There is evidence that complicates any attempt to simply declare Genesis88’s projects problematic.

Some Genesis88 projects received favorable government performance evaluations.

That means the investigation should also examine the inspection trail, especially if any project now being questioned had previously been inspected and rated favorably.

Who inspected it? What did they inspect? What documents supported the certification?

Those questions become especially relevant because the subpoena asks for the inspection and personnel records.

PAOLO DUTERTE’S RESPONSE

Paolo Duterte has denied that the flood-control projects identified by Tinio were ghost projects. He said the structures existed and had been implemented, inspected and validated by DPWH and the Commission on Audit.

He later welcomed an investigation into the projects, saying he had nothing to hide.

Fine.

Then inspect everything.

If the projects exist and were properly built, the records and physical structures should support that. If investigators find something else, then the people responsible should have to explain it.

DAVAO SHOULD HAVE ASKED HARDER QUESTIONS

This is where I have a problem.

Questions about Davao public works did not suddenly appear with the NBI. PCIJ had already examined contracting there years ago. The House put Davao under the broader flood-control inquiry in 2025. Tinio later produced a contract-by-contract review and pushed the issue before Congress, the ICI and the Ombudsman.

Yet I have seen very little sustained pressure from within Davao demanding this level of examination despite the amount of public money involved and the flooding residents continue to experience.

I am not saying nobody in Davao ever questioned these projects. I cannot make that claim, and it would be unfair to the people who did.

But Davao should have demanded much harder scrutiny much earlier.

A political family dominating a city for decades should never result in less examination of government spending.

Billions of pesos in public money should produce more questions, regardless of who happens to be in power.

If local pressure was not enough to produce that level of scrutiny, then I am glad the NBI is finally doing it.

Somebody has to.

NOW WE FOLLOW THE RECORDS

I am not starting this investigation with a conclusion about guilt.

I am starting with the documents.

Tinio gave us a detailed set of allegations that could be checked. The NBI subpoena now gives investigators the authority to demand many of the records needed to check them, while the bureau’s own review has produced another group of projects it says deserve closer examination.

From here, I want to follow the contract IDs, contractors, amounts, coordinates, inspection reports, engineering plans and completion documents as they become available. I also want to know which projects investigators eventually clear, because that is part of the record too.

Davao has received too much public money for scrutiny of these projects to be treated as an attack on the city or its political leaders.

If the projects were properly built, inspected and paid for, the documents should bear that out. If they were not, then Davao has a lot to answer for.

This investigation is long overdue.

And from here, I will be following the paper trail.