A FIRE broke out at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bureau of Research and Standards (BRS) building on Wednesday, fanning the flames of speculation that documents related to the ongoing flood control corruption investigation may have been destroyed. However, officials were quick to assure the public that no such materials were affected.
In a statement released shortly after the incident, the DPWH confirmed that the fire originated from a computer unit inside the Materials Testing Division that ‘reportedly exploded.’
No employees were injured during the incident.
The agency emphasized that no materials connected to the corruption probe into flood control projects were stored in the affected building.
‘The DPWH confirms that no documents related to the ongoing investigation into the flood control anomalies were in the Bureau of Research and Standards building that caught fire in Quezon City today,’ the statement read.
The BRS is responsible for conducting research, studies, pilot testing, and formulating policies for government infrastructure projects.
An investigation team has been deployed to assess the full extent of the damage and prevent similar incidents in the future, according to the DPWH.
The agency, described among the most graft-ridden in the bureaucracy, has been ensnared in one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of Philippine governance, after its role as a focal point for plowing infrastructure funds into substandard, wrongly located, or even nonexistent flood control projects was exposed.
In recent hearings on its 2026 budget, the DPWH has seen over P200 billion of its budget taken away and diverted into other sectors.