President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered an audit of the Department of Public Works and Highways to determine the "ghost projects" and to file charges against erring officials.

In a taped televised message on Thursday night, Duterte said the DPWH officials and staff who are involved in illegal activities should better resign now.

"I advise you to resign. Resign now because when the time comes, I will throw the book at you," he said.

"You will be prosecuted administratively, criminally and you will not be forgiven. This is not the time for condonation," Duterte stressed.

He said that the modus operandi of DPWH officials, mostly involving "regional directors," are through the ghost projects.

"So, no delivery, ghost projects. Most of them, it's the regional directors. They will show that there is a project, but there's none. So, the best way is to conduct an audit of those projects to determine if they are ghost projects or not, and I think they are plenty. And I dare say that most of those who will be removed would be from DPWH," he said.

The President earlier directed the Department of Justice-led task force to include on its investigation the DPWH for "rampant corruption."

The task force was initially created to probe the alleged corruption in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. Celerina Monte/DMS