Flood probe’s next aim: ‘Return people’s money’
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon will not settle for just jail time for those responsible for anomalous multibillion-peso flood control projects.
He wants all those involved in the irregularities to return all the money they had stolen from the Filipino people through corruption.
“It is not enough to go to jail. It is not enough to be held accountable. We need to return the people’s money,” Dizon said during a press conference on Friday.
“We are talking about billions of pesos in projects here. We need to return that money—and that is what we will do,” he added.
To meet AMLC
As a first step, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) chief said he would explore ways to freeze the assets of persons named in criminal complaints stemming from corruption-tainted flood control projects.
“I will meet with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on Monday so we can discuss the possible freezing and later on forfeiture of assets of those involved in the wanton theft of the people’s money,” Dizon said.
When asked to specify whose assets would be frozen and forfeited, he said they would be all the individuals who had been named in the graft complaints the DPWH had filed against in the Office of the Ombudsman and all future respondents.
First charges
“We already have a complaint, then we can now go to AMLC. So that is what we are going to do on Monday,” Dizon said.
In the first criminal complaints resulting from the multibillion-peso corruption scandal in the flood control program, the DPWH on Thursday filed graft charges against 20 government engineers and employees from Bulacan, and four private contractors and their owners, including Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya, who became well-known for her family’s more than two dozen luxury cars.
After seeing one unfinished but fully paid antiflood river wall in Bulacan last week, Dizon called those responsible “animals” whom he vowed to send to jail.
He said the DPWH would file a second batch of criminal complaints next week against individuals allegedly involved in the flood control irregularities in Oriental Mindoro.
Dizon said he assigned a separate team to go after the contractors who “destroyed” other infrastructure projects.
“So, first of all, we will chase all the bonds, all the warranties, and all the securities that are in the contracts of these contractors,” he said.
Paper chase
According to the DPWH secretary, those involved in infrastructure projects can be pursued for noncompliance within five years, as stipulated in their contracts.
“Meaning, it should have a warranty. It’s like, when you buy a TV, it has a warranty, and it needs to be fully covered if it breaks,” Dizon explained.
“So obviously, if it’s a ‘ghost’ [project], well, we’ll go after these guys. That’s in the contract,” he said.
Oriental Mindoro case
Criminal complaints connected to the Oriental Mindoro projects will be filed next week against certain DPWH personnel and
Sunwest Inc., St. Timothy Construction Corp. and Elite General Contractor and Development Corp., Dizon said.
He said Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor will accompany him in filing those cases in the Office of the Ombudsman.
The case is based on the “substandard” flood control project which had been divided into seven “packages” among the three construction companies—five for Sunwest, one for St. Timothy and another for Elite, Dizon said.
He pointed out that St. Timothy and Elite were “Discaya-connected” companies.
He said the complaints would be similar to the ones filed against the Bulacan group, which included graft, malversation through falsification and violation of the government procurement law.
Dizon and Dolor uncovered three “ghost” flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro, aside from the one that the DPWH chief cited as substandard.
They found these during their recent inspection of projects in Panggalan River, Tubig River and Catuiran River in Barangay Tagumpay, Naujan town. The projects were listed as funded in the 2025 budget but there were no ongoing construction works at the site.
‘Black Friday’
At the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, more than 3,000 students and faculty members walked out of their classes on Friday to condemn corruption in government-funded infrastructure projects and demanded accountability and prison time for the culprits, especially those responsible for anomalies in flood control.
The “Black Friday” protest and march was supported by UP president Angelo Jimenez and Diliman chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II.
The university student council earlier called for solidarity and unity against corruption in a letter to Vistan.
The protesters chanted slogans demanding imprisonment of those involved in corruption-tainted projects.
Not OK to stay neutral
Jimenez told the students and the public not to stay neutral in the controversy hounding the nation.
“The University views with gravest concern the revelation of deep-seated and massive corruption plaguing the flood control projects in our country,” he said. “We cannot stay neutral.”
The protesters carried images of President Marcos, former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, and even contractors like couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Sarah Discaya—the objects of their anger.
“Beyond raging corruption, we must also harness our education and training to provide solutions to the real problems of our people,” Jimenez pointed out. “As the University of the People, it is our overarching moral responsibility.” —WITH A REPORT FROM DEMPSEY REYES
