Lawyers and engineers will be accompanying teams of soldiers and police officers currently investigating flood control projects, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) announced on Wednesday.

This was decided upon by the probe body during a high command conference held at Camp Crame Wednesday afternoon, reported RH 52 Edniel Parrosa.

In an ambush interview, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon told the media that providing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) access to DPWH documents would fast-track validation and data gathering.

“Ito na, may mga teams na umiikot. Pero kailangan, bawat team, kumpleto ng abogado, engineer, at kumpleto ‘yung access sa DPWH documents,” Dizon said.

The government aims to put all individuals responsible for the faulty and fictitious or “ghost” projects behind bars by Christmas, based on the list of 40 persons set to be charged by the Ombudsman.

In a separate interview at the PNP headquarters, ICI Special Adviser and Retired General Jun Azurin told reporters that it is the commission’s priority to assess about 80 flood control projects.

These 80 projects are tied to the top government contractors named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

So far, there have been 421 “ghost” or non-existent projects listed by personnel of the military and national police.