Media practitioners of Antique have appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to order an investigation into the mysterious death of the district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the province recently.
DPWH Antique district engineer Arnel Rebeta was found dead last July 9 at his boarding house in Jaro, Iloilo City with bullet wounds in the mouth and chest from a .45 caliber pistol which police quickly declared as an apparent suicide.
But media practitioners in Antique, along with other concerned citizens of the province believed otherwise, saying the death of Rebeta could be work-related considering the mounting problems he had inherited in the district.
“This is not a simple case of suicide. There is more to it than meets the eye,” said veteran newsman Wilson Geronimo of Radio Bandera, showing a copy of the letter to President Duterte in a media forum in Quezon City.
The letter, signed by at least 50 mediamen and concerned citizens, asked President Duterte to get to the bottom of the case, considering the controversies that shrouded the implementation of public works projects in Antique.
“If indeed, DE Rebeta committed suicide, which we refuse to believe, then there was simply an extreme pressure, spelled serious threats, on his person that it degenerated into allegedly taking his own life for reasons silenced by his death,” the letter said.
Geronimo claimed that prior to the alleged suicide, Rebeta was reportedly scolded by Antique Congressman Paulo Javier for failing to invite him to the inauguration of a new public works project in the province.
He added it is public knowledge in Antique that since Rebeta replaced DE Gerard Pacanan in March this year, the new district engineer has reportedly refused to kowtow to the demands of the congressman.
“I know that this has angered the congressman who claimed in his radio program that he has direct supervision over public works projects in the province,” said Geronimo.
“Mr. Rebeta told me during an interview, that he has inherited so many problems in his office. He said several infrastructure projects have not been implemented on time, resulting in the poor rating of the district,” said Geronimo.
“The people of Antique are now asking, how big and deep is the problem that would cause the death of a district engineer,” the Antiquenos said in their letter to President Duterte.
Geronimo said “Antique is a poor province, and it is made poorer by politicians who robbed us of well-intentioned public works projects. We rely on your sound judgment, Sir, to order a comprehensive investigation.”
Despite huge allocations for big-ticket infrastructure projects, Geronimo said several have not been completed, among them concrete bridges, protection dikes, school buildings and concrete roads, some parts of which have collapsed.
“But the contractors of these projects have already claimed full payment because the DPWH report states that these projects are already completed,” added Geronimo.
The media practitioners of Antique, he said, are raising high hopes to uncover the mystery behind the poor implementation of DPWH projects in the province.
“Perhaps, the death of our district engineer will lead to a full blown investigation so that corrupt politicians, contractors and DPWH officials are unmasked to face trial,” Geronimo said.
Those who signed the petition included Loree Marcelino, Stephen Checa, Shiella Bas, Toy Montano, Randy Londres, Ike Decena, Eva Abajencia, Patrick Cabrillos, Paul Petinglay, Galieleo Magbanua, Rene Oberio, Roger Tamon, Merlyn Pomperada and Sherwin Pacete.