DOJ summons respondents in Bulacan ‘ghost’ flood works
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has summoned the respondents in alleged corruption in five “ghost” flood control projects in Bulacan province, acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida confirmed on Monday.
“Some of the subpoenas have been personally served in the initial five cases wherein the DOJ has been deputized by the Office of the Ombudsman. That process will start. The respondents and charges have been identified and soon there will be more,” Vida said.
According to Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, the first hearing for the preliminary investigation on the five cases is scheduled on Nov. 10.
Fadullon earlier disclosed that the respondents in the cases involving ghost flood control projects in Bulacan included former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza.
The five cases, he noted, focused on the participation of the First District Engineering Office of Bulacan and involved a contractor who allegedly lent their license to secure a certain flood control project.
The DOJ initially turned over the five cases of malversation, falsification by public officers, perjury, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act to the Office of the Ombudsman in October for assessment and review.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, however, returned the cases to the DOJ, which was deputized to prosecute the cases, to avoid repetition of processes.
“The five flood control cases filed by the DOJ, we are returning it to them already. They will conduct a PI [preliminary investigation]. They will work on that and they will file the cases since they have witnesses, so the process won’t repeat here,” Remulla said on Oct. 22.
Meeting deadline
DOJ spokesperson Raphael Niccolo Martinez earlier said the agency was working on a one-month period to wrap up its preliminary investigation that would determine if there were sufficient grounds to file the cases in court.
Asked if the DOJ was still optimistic that it would meet the deadline, Vida replied: “Yes, especially for this initial batch. Without prejudice to the regular processes.”
“Again, my appeal is that we follow the process. We cannot do a shortcut [or] play God on this. We need to follow the rule of law,” he noted.
Amid the public outcry for accountability through immediate filing of cases in court, Vida appealed for patience, saying that the DOJ is evaluating the cases cautiously to ensure that the rule of law and due process are observed.
“The call is for us to follow the process, no matter how slow it is. The process is moving but we are trying to move it in the right direction so that what our countrymen hope for can be achieved,” he said.
Center of corruption mess
After his State of the Nation Address in July where he first criticized corruption in infrastructure projects around the country, President Marcos personally inspected some flood control works in Bulacan in August and was left dismayed and “angry” by the nonexistent projects that the government had already paid for.
On Aug. 15, he inspected the rehabilitation of a river protection structure at Barangay Bulusan in Calumpit, Bulacan, and found the structure was incomplete, contrary to what official records indicated.
The project was under the Discaya-owned St. Timothy Construction Corp. and it cost the government P96.4 million.
The President also inspected the status of a flood mitigation structure along Barangay Frances in the same town.
Valued at P77.1 million, this project was constructed by Wawao Builders, one of the contractors with the most flood control projects nationwide based on a list earlier released by the Office of the President.
The flood mitigation structure was also incomplete despite it being labeled as finished in DPWH records.
On Aug. 20, Mr. Marcos inspected a river wall project at Barangay Piel in Baliuag, Bulacan.
Official documents claimed that a 220-meter structure worth P55.7 million had already commenced, yet on-site, the President found no trace of construction or evidence of work.
On paper, work started on Feb. 25 and was completed on June 30, way ahead of the Oct. 22 deadline, with the DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office having fully paid the P55.73-million contract to SYMS Construction Trading.
Mr. Marcos said he was “thinking very hard” about filing economic sabotage charges against those found to have committed fraud in flood control projects in the country.
Investigations are ongoing regarding the corruption and multibillion-peso losses incurred by the government from irregular, incomplete, substandard and “ghost” flood control projects that the President himself initially exposed.
On Oct. 14, the DOJ submitted to the Ombudsman findings on five flood control projects in Bulacan.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure has also turned over to the Ombudsman its Oriental Mindoro case findings in September. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
