CANDABA, Pampanga – Former Candaba mayor Jerry Pelayo, now provincial administrator of Laguna, has accused local and national officials of allowing at least ₱1.4 billion worth of alleged “ghost projects” in his hometown, and challenged incumbent Mayor Rene Maglanque to prove his integrity by joining him in filing charges against those behind the anomaly.
“Sampan ke kaso itang contractor nung malinis ka tukyan muku” Pelayo said.
Pelayo pointed to slope protection and dike projects funded from 2018 to 2025 that, he said, showed strikingly similar costs despite being carried out in different barangays.
Among the largest contracts were:
1. Slope protection, Malisik–Barangka – ₱144,750,000
2. Slope protection, Malisik–Mapaniki – ₱144,750,000
3. Slope protection, Malisik–Salapungan – ₱144,750,000
4. Slope protection, Malisik (various sites) – ₱168,393,000
5. Dike construction, Visal San Pablo – ₱68,321,000 (with a second contract at ₱68,394,000)
“These are twins, triplets, quadruplets. The same amounts, the same works, only different names,” Pelayo said, warning that those behind the projects “will face jail time.”
Maglanque, now in his second term as mayor, had previously been tagged in the Janet Napoles Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, which implicated several lawmakers and local officials in funneling public funds to bogus NGOs.
Pelayo, who served as Candaba mayor for three terms, also criticized the absence of livelihood programs in town, saying infrastructure spending has not created jobs or improved people’s lives.
Recalling his own administration, Pelayo said a channeling project in Malisik was completed with bulldozers at a fraction of the cost. “You only build slope protection when homes are endangered. Why spend billions when no houses are at risk?” he asked.
He stressed that Candabeños deserve “protection and accountability, not waste and abuse of their resources.”