MANILA – In a sweeping crackdown on alleged corruption in flood mitigation projects, the Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the six-month preventive suspension of 12 officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) Mimaropa regional office, escalating the legal vise on those implicated in a substandard P289.5-million river dike fiasco in Oriental Mindoro. The move, announced amid ongoing Sandiganbayan proceedings, strips the officials of their duties pending a deeper probe into graft and malversation charges, marking another chapter in the sprawling scandal that’s already netted arrest warrants for lawmakers and contractors.
The suspensions, detailed in a November 27 order, target 10 DPWH-Mimaropa insiders and two bidding committee members tied to the botched dike project, which prosecutors claim was riddled with kickbacks, subpar materials, and ghost payments. Leading the list is Juliet Calvo, the maintenance division chief, alongside heavy-hitters like Regional Director Gerald A. Pacanan, Assistant Regional Director Gene Ryan Alurin Altea (now DPWH Bureau of Maintenance director), and Dominic Gregorio Serrano, chief of the construction division. Others include Project Engineer III Felisardo Sevare Casuno, Materials Engineer Timojen Adiong Sacar, Planning and Design Division OIC-Chief Montrexis Tordecilla Tamayo, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division OIC-Chief Dennis Pelo Abagon, and Accountant IV Lerma Dotado Cayco. Rounding out the roster are Grace Lopez and Frierich Camero, both from the regional Bids and Awards Committee.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano confirmed the administrative hammer: “This stemmed from the administrative case that was instituted simultaneously with the criminal charge.” The order, a preventive measure to shield the probe from interference, was revealed during a Sandiganbayan Fifth Division arraignment by Atty. Juanito Lim, counsel for Calvo. “We have just received that they are being suspended for six months, an order from the Office of the Ombudsman,” Lim disclosed, underscoring the swift fallout for the accused.
The charges paint a grim picture of fiscal foul play: Prosecutors allege the officials colluded with former Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co and his firm Sunwest Construction and Development Corp. to inflate costs, skim kickbacks, and rubber-stamp shoddy work on the dike meant to shield Oriental Mindoro from monsoons. Last month, the Sandiganbayan issued warrants for Co and accomplices, with nine of the 16 suspects now in custody – all but Sacar among the DPWH crew. Co remains at large, reportedly holed up in Portugal via a golden visa, while others like Sunwest execs Aderma Angelie Alcazar (New Zealand) and Cesar Buenaventura (New York) evade the net.
The scandal’s tendrils stretch far, ensnaring a web of lawmakers, bureaucrats, and contractors in what critics dub a “trillion-peso tragedy” of ghost projects and pork plunder. For the suspended officials – yanked from their posts without pay – the six months could stretch into years if convictions land, facing up to life in prison for graft under RA 3019. As the Ombudsman digs deeper, this suspension isn’t just a timeout; it’s a thunderclap, signaling that in the Philippines’ graft grapple, no badge or briefcase shields the guilty from the gavel.