‘Ghost’ project contractor Wawao hit with P48-M tax evasion case
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday filed criminal complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the owner of Wawao Builders for failure to pay taxes totaling P48.39 million.
The BIR pegged the amount in relation to flood control projects that the government awarded to the company in Bulacan province.
Mark Allan Villamor Arevalo, sole proprietor of Wawao, is accused of violating Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code and failing to supply correct and accurate information in its income tax filings and value-added tax returns for the first and second quarters of 2024.
A government contract worth P77.20 million was awarded to Wawao Builders in January 2024 for the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Barangay Caingin, Malolos City in Bulacan.
The company received P72.37 million, after withholding taxes, in three tranches from March to April 2025.
13th complaint
However, a review conducted by the Commission on Audit and a physical verification made by the BIR found that no riverbank protection structure was actually constructed at the project site despite a report claiming 100-percent completion.
“He (Arevalo) received the money but no project was actually made,” BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza said. “When he filed his returns, he declared costs for the construction. But since there was no project, those operating costs are nonexistent.”
Mendoza said the case against Wawao was the 13th criminal complaint filed by the BIR targeting companies being linked to anomalous flood control projects.
The bureau is investigating potential tax liabilities totaling P8.92 billion in relation to the controversial projects.
“We just look at the costs declared in the return and verify if the project exists. It’s very straightforward,” the BIR official added.
The bureau is also expanding its investigation to include “substandard” projects where the costs may have been inflated.
When asked about the involvement of politicians, Mendoza said the bureau was still looking into all personalities that could be held liable, adding: “We are just ensuring that when we file a case, we have clear and solid evidence.”
Awarded 85 projects
Wawao Builders was one of the 15 contractors named by President Marcos in August last year that have cornered most of the contracts for flood control projects since 2022.
It was reported that in Bulacan alone, Wawao Builders bagged contracts for 85 projects amounting to P5 billion.
But when the President inspected some of the projects on Aug. 15, 2025, he found “almost ghost” flood control projects in Calumpit, Bulacan, that had been awarded to Wawao Builders and to another company, St. Timothy Construction Corp.
Arevalo later appeared in a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Sept. 1, 2025 where he earned the ire of some senators after he refused to confirm or deny his company’s involvement in the projects being flagged in the inquiry.
In a later Senate hearing, on Sept. 8, 2025 Arevalo said his company’s license was “forcibly used” for certain projects. He named Sally Santos, of the company Syms Construction, as the person using Wawao’s license.
He also tagged Brice Hernandez, then of the Bulacan district office of the Department of Public Works and Highways, as being involved in the scheme. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
