DPWH files more flood mess raps; Yap ‘person of interest’
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Thursday filed another set of criminal complaints against its officials who were being linked to “ghost” or substandard infrastructure projects in La Union and Davao Occidental, with one lawmaker cited as a “person of interest.”
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon went to the Office of the Ombudsman to file graft charges and malversation through falsification of public documents against 22 individuals, including DPWH engineers, employees and contractors involved, particularly Silverwolves Construction Corp. and the Discaya-owned St. Timothy Construction Corp.
Named respondents for the province of La Union were Gil Lorenzo, district engineer of the 2nd District Engineering Office (DEO); Raul Gali, assistant district engineer of the same office; Mario Laroya, chief of the DEO’s construction section; project engineers Ethel Grace Guerrero, Joseph Brian Delizo and Christian Paul Edurial; materials engineer Albemar Elloise Estipular; Nestor Sibayan, representative of the DEO’s office for quality assurance section; Jose Perez, the DEO’s representative for planning and design section; Zyrah Marie Estipular, representative for the maintenance section; Dan Ginete, chief of the DEO’s finance section, and Marivic Manalo of Silverwolves.
For Davao Occidental, Dizon filed charges against Rodrigo Larete, district engineer of the provincial DEO; Michael Awa, assistant district engineer and chief of construction section; Joel Lumogdang, officer in charge of the construction section; Harold John Villaver, project engineer; Jafael Faunillan, chief of the DEO’s quality assurance section; Josephine Valdez, chief of planning and design section; Ranulfo Flores, chief of maintenance section; Czar Ryan Ubungen, acting chief of the finance section; St. Timothy, represented by Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando, the authorized managing officer, and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya, the beneficial owner, according to Dizon.
This would be the second case for Discaya at the Ombudsman after Dizon filed the same set of charges against her, being the representative of St. Timothy Construction, over the faulty projects in Bulacan.
Lawmaker’s role
After the filings, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remula disclosed that the “person of interest” they were looking at for the cases in La Union was Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, whom he said was the “beneficial owner” of Silverwolves.
“He divested from it a few years ago, supposedly, but there’s reason to suspect that he’s still the beneficial owner of the company, so there’s a clear case of conflict interest,” Remulla told reporters at a press conference together with Dizon and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr., chair of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.
Yap did not immediately respond to messages asking for his comment.
Remulla said the Davao Occidental projects started in 2021, but officials behind the project started to complete them only after the scandal surrounding flood control projects made headlines.
Dizon clarified that the Davao Occidental projects were bidded in 2021, awarded the following year and supposed to be finished in 2022.
“But obviously, according to testimonies of residents themselves, and also upon investigation by the police, it was never completed. The construction there only started in August of this year,” he emphasized.
“It’s already three years since the supposed completion and full payment of the project. This is clearly a ghost project,” Dizon said.
Senate admission
Projects in La Union, meanwhile, were considered substandard projects, considering the testimonies by the people in the province and even statements from Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
It was Magalong who also alleged that Yap was the beneficial owner of Silverwolves, but Dizon said they will leave the decision whether or not to include the lawmaker in the case to Remulla and the investigating team of the Ombudsman.
Dizon also insisted that Discaya was the beneficial owner of St. Timothy, reiterating her “own admission” in the Senate blue ribbon committee’s previous hearings on the flood-control scandal.
Remulla said the alleged person of interest will have to undergo intensive research by their field investigators, but noted that Yap was chair of the House appropriations committee from 2019 to 2022.
“We will find out if there were other contracts done with the company when he was the chairman of the appropriations committee. If proven, this is a clear case of conflict of interest. Congressmen should never partake in these contracts,” he said.
