Ombudsman suspends 16 DPWH personnel sued by Dizon

GROUND ZERO OF GRAFT CHARGES Protesters from the Nagkakaisang Magbubukid ng Malolos, Bulacan State University and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas stage a protest outside the district office of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Barangay Tikay, Malolos City, Bulacan, on Friday. The first set of graft complaints recently filed over alleged flood control project anomalies stemmed from this office. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Office of the Ombudsman on Friday suspended 16 employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) who were charged last week by their boss with graft and malversation through falsification of documents.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon immediately carried out the six-month preventive suspension issued by the Ombudsman against the following personnel in the DPWH office in Bulacan’s first district: construction section chief John Michael Ramos; planning and design section chief Ernesto Galang; administrative section chief Floralyn Simbulan; maintenance section officers in charge Lorenzo Pagtalunan and Jaime Fernandez; quality section chief Norberto Santos; budget unit head Roberto Roque; procurement unit head Benedict Matawaran; cashier Christina Mae Pineda; engineer Jolo Mari Tayao; and project engineers Paul Jayson Duya, Merg Jaron Laus, Lemuel Ephraim Roque, Arjay Domasig, John Carlo Rivera and John Benex Francisco.

These suspended personnel have been linked to anomalous flood control projects in the province worth P389.6 million.

BGC Boys

One of them, Domasig, was earlier named as one of the five so-called BGC Boys or Bulacan group of contractors whom Sen. Panfilo Lacson, in his Sept. 9 privilege speech, had tagged in questionable flood works.

Acting Ombudsman Dante Vargas —OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN

Acting Ombudsman Dante Vargas said the suspension order was based on criminal complaints filed against a total of 25 individuals, including DPWH personnel in Bulacan, and on fraud audit reports by the Commission on Audit covering the province.

The other respondents were former district engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Ericson Hernandez as well as assistant engineer Jaypee Mendoza and chief accountant Juanito Mendoza.

Dizon earlier this week had ordered the dismissal of Hernandez as well as the two Mendozas (no relation to each other).

Alcantara, Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza and private contractor Edrick San Diego make up the rest of the BGC Boys, according to Lacson’s privilege speech.

‘Exerting influence’

The Office of the Ombudsman said in a statement the suspension order was intended to prevent the 16 from “exerting influence over the ongoing investigation [into the DPWH projects] as well as to safeguard public records and ensure that accountability measures can proceed without obstruction.”

“The flood control projects in question are being tagged as ghost or graft-ridden projects, either through the lack of necessary supporting documents, non-existence of any civil works, discrepancy in the pinpointed location and even flawed approved bid plans,” the Ombudsman said.