Flood control scandal widens: DPWH to suspend more officials

More officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are expected to be placed under preventive suspension as the agency continues its investigation into irregularities involving flood control projects nationwide, Secretary Vince Dizon said on Wednesday.

Dizon made the statement when asked about the earlier preventive suspension of 40 DPWH personnel as part of the agency’s ongoing internal cleanup linked to anomalies in infrastructure programs.

“There will be more, aside from those 40 because our investigation is continuous, both from our internal investigation and our cooperation with the ICI and Ombudsman,” Dizon said in an interview with dzMM Teleradyo.
“There will be more. You can see that we are not stopping here.”

On Tuesday, DPWH Undersecretary Ricardo Bernabe III reported that administrative proceedings have begun against 49 employees, with 40 already placed under preventive suspension.

Bernabe also confirmed that criminal complaints have been filed with the Ombudsman against 63 individuals, though he did not identify them nor detail the specific charges.

This development follows the filing of graft and malversation cases last Friday by the Ombudsman against contractor Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and eight DPWH officials over an alleged “ghost” flood control project worth P96.5 million in Davao.

In September, Dizon conducted a surprise inspection of the project and discovered it had been awarded to St. Timothy Construction Company — a firm owned by Discaya — in January 2022. He also found that the DPWH district office had fully paid the contractor after it promised to finish the project at a later time.