ICI pushes new raps vs Bonoan, 2 other ex-DPWH execs
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against the same set of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and the private contractor for another “ghost” flood control project in Bulacan that cost the government P74.1 million.
This is the ICI’s fifth round of recommendations sent to the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday for further investigation into how and what happened “before and after contract implementation” as it found administrative liability again against former Secretary Manuel Bonoan and former undersecretaries Roberto Bernardo and Maria Catalina Cabral.
ICI Chair Andres Reyes Jr. also said that the ICI is looking to propose charges next week against “at least three” other senators who could be involved in the scheme behind the anomalous infrastructure projects.
Former Philippine National Police chief Rodolfo Azurin, a special adviser to the ICI, has been leading the site inspection of projects flagged as nonexistent or substandard, which now stood at 17,000, Reyes said.
Proposed charges
He also denied that the commission is targeting specific cities or provinces alleged to have irregular infrastructure projects, saying “we will go to every part of the country … we are not going to target any place.”
The Bulacan project, which involved the construction of a concrete slope protection at a riverbank at Barangay Carillo in Hagonoy town, was supposed to be implemented last year by construction firm Darcy and Anna Builders and Trading owned by Darcy Respecio.
However, ocular visits showed no structure built on the site even if the money allotted for the project was released to the company.
The ICI asked the Ombudsman to consider suing the three former high-ranking DPWH officials for grave misconduct, gross dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, or “for any violation” of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Meanwhile, criminal charges of graft, malversation and falsification were recommended against Respecio; former district engineer Henry Alcantara; ex-assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez; planning and design chief Ernesto Galang, and engineers John Michael Marcos, Jolo Tayao and Lemuel Roque.
The ICI said that its findings showed that “the involved public officials and private individuals executed and perfected a scheme designed to completely deceive the government and unlawfully appropriate public funds and unjustly enrich themselves sourced from [the] fictitious project.”
According to the 19-page report, Respecio, along with officers of his firm, “made it appear” that they were executing and later completing the project, based on the documents their company submitted to the DPWH.
Davao projects probe
“These falsifications indicate that the scheme was intended to enable the release and receipt of government funds without the completion of any actual work,” the ICI said, pointing out the role of the contractor that bagged the project in February last year.
A “cash flow diagram,” which was part of the detailed engineering plan, indicated that the project was “100-percent” completed eight months after.
At the House of Representatives, the Makabayan bloc on Thursday called for an investigation into at least P4.4 billion worth of flood control projects in Davao City, claiming strong indications of being “grossly overpric(ed), ghost and incomplete.”
If adopted, House Resolution No. 464, filed by ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, and Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, would direct the committee on public accounts to investigate at least 80 projects along the Davao and Matina Rivers from 2019 to 2022, all under the jurisdiction of Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte.
Duterte has long maintained that the flood control projects in Davao were completely aboveboard and accused the Marcos administration of singling out his district as part of politicking.
Ten of the projects worth P712 million were awarded to a firm called Genesis88 Construction of Glenn Escandor, who served as presidential adviser for sports under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
This, they said, “raised serious concerns about possible political patronage in the awarding of contracts.”
Nine other projects were constructed by Legacy Construction, which has a spotty record in project implementation and is one of the top 15 contractors named by President Marcos as having cornered a big chunk of flood control projects.
The Makabayan bloc also flagged other alleged irregularities, including the total overlap of two contracts for revetment construction in the same river section amounting to P135.14 million; double funding for a project worth P115.09 million awarded to two different contractors, and eight others worth P425.43 million that fell short of the required length specified in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
‘Serious questions’
They also found at least 65 contracts amounting to P3.56 billion appropriated under the GAA and awarded without proper specifications such as exact location and length.
There were 10 other awarded contracts amounting to P622.57 million that were not found in the GAA, “raising serious questions about their legal basis and authorization.”
This “pattern of irregularities in Davao—including congressional insertions, projects without proper specifications, changed locations, double funding, total overlap, and incomplete delivery—mirrors the same schemes uncovered in Bulacan province” where most of the anomalous flood control projects were found, the bloc said.
