NBI chief: 1 firm got P7-B projects on Pulong Duterte turf

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation has widened its probe into flood control projects in the first district of Davao City, saying it found that projects worth about P7 billion were awarded to a single contractor from 2018 to 2024.

NBI Director Melvin Matibag said on Thursday that the bureau initially believed it was looking into only P1.9 billion worth of projects awarded to Genesis88 Construction Inc., a contractor he described as close to the Duterte family.

“[But] 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.

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He said the higher figure was based on records from the Commission on Audit (COA), prompting the NBI to seek additional documents from the state auditing agency.

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READ: DPWH exec shows up at NBI; 10 boxes of flood-control files turned over

The projects are in the congressional district represented by Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, son of former President Rodrigo Duterte and brother of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Matibag earlier said the NBI had found red flags in 47 of 100 flood control projects in the district. Later, he said the number of projects under investigation had increased to 51.

The bureau is examining allegations of “ghost” and substandard projects, as well as unusual project records.

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“There are projects that were red-flagged,” Matibag earlier said.

“There’s a project with one coordinate and five budgets, each with a different title,” he said. “This isn’t gossip. I saw the document.”

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Matibag, however, clarified that only about six projects initially flagged had so far shown clear problems.

Ties to the Dutertes

A General Information Sheet obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission listed Glenn Y. Escandor as chief executive officer of Genesis88 Construction, Inc., which was reported in 2025 on the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website to have bagged a total of P2.89 billion worth of government contracts.

READ: NBI sees ‘red flags’ in 47 flood control projects in Paolo Duterte’s district

The Davao-based businessman and basketball patron was appointed on Aug. 30, 2016, by then President Duterte as presidential assistant for sports.

Sara Duterte’s statement of contributions and expenditures submitted to the Commission on Elections in 2022 showed another Escandor-owned company, Escandor Development Corp., to have contributed P19.92 million worth of advertisements for her vice presidential campaign.

Other contractors probed

Aside from Genesis88, the NBI is examining two other construction firms—Gemma Construction and Agong Construction—which Matibag said may also have connections to the Dutertes.

“Well, it is already established that they know each other. That will also be part of the investigation,” Matibag said.

He said the bureau could summon the contractors if the documents and testimonies gathered by investigators showed a need for them to explain their involvement.

“We can ask about that when we summon the contractors—if it reaches the point where, based on the documents submitted to us and the testimonies, it becomes necessary to call them in to explain,” he said.

The NBI is also set to obtain additional records from the COA to determine the extent of the contracts and how they were awarded.

Matibag said subpoenas would be issued to individuals whose participation becomes relevant based on the documents and testimonies gathered by investigators.

Documents from Davao

The investigation gained a new batch of records on Thursday when Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Davao Region Director Juby Cordon appeared at the NBI headquarters in Pasay City to comply with a subpoena.

Cordon arrived at about 1 p.m. and declined to answer questions from reporters.

Shortly after her arrival, DPWH Davao Region personnel delivered 10 boxes of documents requested by the NBI for its investigation.

The NBI subpoenaed Cordon after Matibag flagged the flood control projects in Duterte’s district.

The documents are expected to help investigators establish how the projects were programmed, awarded and implemented and whether the projects flagged by the bureau were actually completed as reported.

Matibag said investigators would also examine the records for links among contractors, government officials and the projects being investigated.

P51B in Pulong’s district

The NBI’s P7-billion finding comes against the backdrop of an earlier disclosure that Duterte’s district received a much larger amount of infrastructure funding during the final three years of his father’s presidency.

In September 2025, then DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral confirmed during a House infrastructure committee hearing that about P51 billion in infrastructure projects had been allocated to Paolo Duterte’s district in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Cabral was responding to questions from Manila Rep. Joel Chua, who cited a 2024 news report on the unusually large infrastructure allocations for the district during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures cited during the hearing showed that the proposed and final allocations increased substantially in each of the three years.

For 2020, Malacañang initially proposed about P4.6 billion in infrastructure projects for the district, but the amount was increased to P13.745 billion in the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

In 2021, the proposed P9.67 billion was increased to about P25 billion in the enacted national budget.

For 2022, the initial proposal of P10 billion was increased to P13.04 billion in the final budget.

Together, the three annual allocations amounted to roughly P51.8 billion.

Cabral confirmed the figures during the hearing, while noting that the allocations came during the pandemic period.

The infrastructure allocations themselves are separate from the NBI’s current investigation into the flood control projects. The bureau has not alleged that the entire P51 billion allocation was anomalous.

Rather, investigators are examining specific flood control projects and contracting arrangements, including the P7 billion in projects that Matibag said went to Genesis88 from 2018 to 2024.

Where evidence points

“If the evidence points to the need to summon him, we will not have second thoughts to do so,” Matibag said.

“But since he is very active on social media, maybe he would want to appear on his own so he could find out if the evidence is just gossip or if the evidence is real,” he added.

Duterte has said he welcomes an investigation into flood control projects in his district but insisted that the inquiry should not be selective.

“We are from Davao. We care deeply about our city. That is why we want to see the evidence, documents, videos, and the actual projects alleged to be problematic,” Duterte said in an earlier statement.

“I hope there is media coverage of your hearing so the entire nation can see the substandard and ‘ghost’ projects you found,” he said.

“But if we are serious about the investigation, the standards should be consistent across all areas. If there are ‘ghost’ or substandard projects, investigate them all—whether in Davao or any other part of the country. There should be no selective investigation,” Duterte added.

He also questioned whether the NBI would investigate flood control projects in the first district of Laguna, represented by Ann Matibag, wife of the NBI director.

Duterte asked whether contractors associated with the separate flood control controversy would also be investigated in her district.

Matibag earlier responded that if Duterte had evidence concerning projects in Laguna, he could submit it to authorities.

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“He is free to file a case so that we can investigate it properly,” Matibag said. —With a report from Inquirer Research