Contractor linked to flood control scandal builds on Laguna de Bay shores

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February 18, 2026 | 8:52am

MANILA, Philippines — As the country continuously grapples with the fallout from a massive infrastructure scam, a flood control project continued to be quietly built on reclaimed land in Laguna de Bay.

The contractor of the said project? Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc. — a firm implicated in the Bulacan's ghost flood control projects. 

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure found that Topnotch was awarded P72.3 million for an alleged ghost flood control project in Bulacan. Another P98.9 million project was also awarded to the same firm for a slope protection project in the province. 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan official who signed a deal with Topnotch was no less than former district engineer Henry Alcantara, who had already admitted to much of the corruption scheme.

In October 2025, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had already flagged the reclamation site along C6 as a flood control project. However, the DPWH told the DENR that the projects they flagged were not listed as flood control initiatives, but road projects.

Philstar.com's research, however, seems to validate the DENR's claims. 

Using Google Earth, Philstar.com has compiled several instances of apparent reclamation on the shores of Laguna de Bay. A feature allowed comparison between satellite images of a location across the years, and the team indeed found rampant reclamation in the area, specifically along C6 in Taguig City. 

Philstar.com also consulted with an environmental lawyer and a marine biologist from the non-profit environmental organization Oceana. Both were able to confirm: the instances captured by satellite were indeed reclamation sites.

The team visited one of the alleged reclamation sites, specifically the area around TLC Park. 

An onsite visit to the area revealed ongoing construction, with dump trucks moving land on the reclaimed area despite the Laguna Lake Development Authority suspending reclamation activities in the lake.

A tarpaulin on the site tagged it as “Improvement of Laguna Lakeshore Area, Barangay Lower Bicutan (Phase 1), Taguig City,” listing its contractors as Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc., alongside Core Check Construction. 

The contract work on the project began around June 5, 2026, and is expected to expire by March 31, 2026. The project costs around P94.04 million, and is being implemented by the Metro Manila 1st District Engineering Office. 

Despite the DPWH's prior claims that the construction being done along C6 is road work, Philstar.com learned that the “improvement” project is classified as a flood control structure. The DPWH's transparency site explicitly labeled the project as a flood control initiative.

It is important to note that the contract agreement between the DPWH and Topnotch did not explicitly say that the “improvement” project was for flood control. However, the bid data sheet said that the scope of work under the deal was “Flood Control: Construction - Slope Protection using Structural Measures,” with contract name “Improvement of Laguna Lakeshore Area, Barangay Lower Bicutan, Taguig City (Phase I).”

Despite Topnotch’s suspected involvement in the Bulacan flood control scam, construction on the project has been labeled as ongoing, with 70.08% of the project being completed.   

Oddly enough, one of the workers that the team chatted with did not believe that their work was either a reclamation, only saying that they were extending the TLC Park down the road. 

Whether the visited site was a flood control project or a park extension, however, it was clear that there was no visible structure yet, despite the contract ending by March. It is also clear that the site was being built on reclaimed land. 

This is only Phase I of the project. The DPWH transparency portal showed that there is an Improvement of Laguna Lakeshore Area, Barangay Lower Bicutan (Phase II), which cost roughly around the same amount: P94.06 million. It is also labeled as a flood control project. 

Topnotch was able to outbid two different companies for the two phases of the project. Phase II of the lakeshore project is also ongoing, with 59.1% of the project being done. 

Despite being labeled as a flood control project on the DPWH's website, however, the two Laguna de Bay projects do not show up on the list of flood control projects in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Sumbong Sa Pangulo website. 

Philstar.com has reached out to both the DPWH and the Laguna Lake Development Authority for a reaction and will update the story once they respond. 

Who is Topnotch Catalyst Builders? 

Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc. is one of the top 15 contractors that were able to corner a P100 billion chunk in the government’s flood control’s projects, with many of them being in Bulacan.

The firm is owned by Topnotch Catalyst Builders, Eumir Villanueva. Villanueva and his wife Pamela, are currently on the Department of Justice’s lookout bulletin order as the probe into the Bulacan continues.  

Villanueva had dodged the Senate probe into the flood control mess despite being cited in contempt and subpoenaed. 

Despite Topnotch being implicated in the Bulacan flood control kickback scheme, the DPWH’s transparency portal indicated that the firm still had 68 ongoing government contracts as of February 17. 

Only one contract with the government has been terminated: the rehabilitation of damaged paved roads in Antipolo, which had a budget of P4.89 million.