DPWH sacks 3 execs, including Senate witness, over admin cases
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Monday dismissed former Bulacan first district assistant engineer Brice Hernandez and two other officials of the agency amid the continuing scandal over its flood control projects.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said also on Monday that he made no assurance, as Sen. Rodante Marcoleta had claimed, that private contractors Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya could be turned state witnesses. The couple has been caught up in the widening controversy over alleged irregularities in the government’s flood works.
A dismissal order signed by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon states that Hernandez, construction section chief Jaypee Mendoza and accountant Juanito Mendoza were “found guilty of the administrative offenses of Disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines and to the Filipino People, Grave Misconduct, Gross Neglect in the Performance of Duty, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Interest of Service under Section 63(A)(1)(d), (f),(h), and A(2)(a) of the 2025 RACCS (Rules on Administrative Cases in Civil Service).”
“Accordingly, they are hereby ordered dismissed from the service, with accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits, except accrued leave credits, and cancellation of civil service eligibility, pursuant to Section 73 of the 2025 RACCS,” the order read.
Apart from his dismissal, Hernandez was returned to the Senate on Monday after he was detained over the weekend at Pasay City Jail.
In a statement, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Hernandez was brought back to the Senate premises after attending a hearing on his writ of amparo petition before Branch 112 of the Pasay Regional Trial Court.
Shuffled under detention
Sotto said Hernandez’s lawyers wrote him and the Senate blue ribbon committee, seeking Hernandez’s readmission to the Senate detention facility.
“They added that Hernandez’s stay in the Senate affirms that the institution does not shy away from difficult truths nor turn its back on those who risk their safety to reveal them,” said the Senate leader.
The witness was given a medical examination upon his arrival in the Senate at 10:10 a.m.
Originally detained in that chamber after allegedly lying before senators at a hearing on Sept. 8, Hernandez was transferred to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center after he requested the House of Representatives, where he testified the next day, not to be brought back to the upper chamber because he feared for his life.
In his testimony before the House, Hernandez dropped a bombshell, claiming that Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva benefited from anomalous flood control projects. Both senators denied Hernandez’s claim.
Hernandez was subsequently transferred to Pasay City Jail upon Estrada’s motion.
Plunder, malversation
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation said it was wrapping up its investigation into three nonexistent flood control projects in Bulacan’s first district, as it prepares to file charges against those involved in these so-called “ghost” projects.
According to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, the NBI had confirmed the projects were nonexistent after investigators inspected the sites based on the locations identified in the website sumbongsapangulo.ph.
“They’re just tying up the loose ends so they can file a case,” Remulla told reporters, adding that the three projects were estimated at P300 million in total.
Among the charges that authorities are considering are plunder and malversation.
“If you [want to] make it easier, malversation might be the easier one to prove because plunder has many requirements with the same effect. In terms of penalty, malversation might be the better crime to charge,” Remulla explained.
He said plunder could be an alternative charge but malversation “would be the easier one to prove in [a] court of law.”
‘Conspiracy angle’
Asked who will be included in the complaints, Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into a “conspiracy angle.”
“We’re looking at the different liabilities of each party, because you have the DPWH, you have the contractor, in between a politician. We will have to look at it completely,” Remulla said.
He added that it was “very possible” for a politician to face charges but said forensic accounting, or the procedure of audit and investigation into possible fraud cases, still needed to be done.
Discayas as state witnesses?
Regarding Marcoleta’s claim, Remulla said the Discayas must first undergo evaluation before being admitted to the witness protection program.
“I actually want to ask him (Marcoleta) if he has a recording of our conversation, because we only spoke on the phone for a few minutes and is that supposed to mean that I already committed to make a state witness of somebody I’ve never met in my life?” Remulla said.
He emphasized the need to assess both the readiness of a potential state witness and the truthfulness of their statements.
“You do not create a state witness like that. It does not happen that way [just] because somebody asked you and you’re good friends, that it will happen already. It has to go through a process of evaluation,” the justice chief said. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHARIE ABARCA
