MANILA - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has discovered that flood control projects amounting to around P7 billion in the first district of Davao City were awarded to a single contractor from 2018 to 2024, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said Thursday.
Matibag said the bureau initially looked into P1.9 billion worth of projects awarded to Genesis88 Construction Inc. in the district of Rep. Paolo Duterte.
However, based on records from the Commission on Audit (COA), the NBI found that the total amount awarded to the same contractor was significantly higher.
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“It turned out that the P1.9 billion in projects given to one contractor that we were looking into was a bit lacking; it was actually P7 billion from 2018 to 2024,” Matibag said in an interview.
The NBI chief said Genesis88 Construction Inc. is allegedly close to the Duterte family.
The bureau is expected to subpoena additional documents from COA as part of its continuing investigation.
Matibag earlier disclosed that investigators identified red flags involving 47 flood control projects in Duterte’s district. He later clarified that the number of projects under investigation had risen to 51.
Meanwhile, DPWH Davao Regional Director Juby Cordon appeared before the NBI on Thursday to comply with a subpoena issued in connection with the flood control probe.
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The DPWH Davao Region also turned over 10 boxes of documents to investigators.
Duterte had previously welcomed an investigation into the flood control projects in his district but stressed that the probe should not be “selective.”
He also questioned whether the NBI would look into flood control projects in the area represented by Matibag’s wife, Laguna Rep. Ann Matibag.
In response, Matibag said in an earlier interview that Duterte may present any evidence he has and file a case, which the NBI would then investigate.