The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Commission on Audit (COA) on Monday recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman the filing of five criminal cases against contractors involved in anomalous flood-control projects in the province of Bulacan.
Following the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to hold accountable those involved in widespread corruption and collusion in flood-control projects, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon and COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba led the joint referral of a list of contractors with “ghost” and substandard projects based on a fraud audit.
The agencies referred criminal cases against St. Timothy Construction, with two projects; Wawao Builders, with two projects; and SYMS Construction Trading, with one project.
“This is just the beginning of our clean-up of the agency. We will make sure that everyone involved is held accountable and imprisoned,” Dizon said.
“Next, we will also refer to the Ombudsman the filing of criminal cases against proven corrupt individuals within the DPWH,” he said.
Dizon said he still believes the majority of DPWH employees are honest and hardworking but that the corrupt should be removed for the agency to “move on.”
“The DPWH cannot move on if we do not purge this institution of these bad people. And that is my commitment to the President and to our countrymen. We will not stop until we get it done,” he said.
