Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday pressed the Department of Justice (DOJ) about suspicions of high-level involvement in the destruction of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) documents linked to a Senate probe on flood control projects.
During a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Hontiveros asked Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla whether the department had identified senior officials who may have ordered the tampering or disposal of records.
The DOJ chief told the panel that the matter was under investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (DPI) and said no conclusive findings had been made so far.
He explained that government records are generally redundant, with duplicates available in other offices or agencies that could still establish the authenticity of lost documents.
Hontiveros noted that copies and duplicates would be crucial in helping the Senate panel continue its investigation despite reports of document destruction.
The senator pressed further, asking if the Justice Department suspected that individuals in higher positions of authority could have ordered the tampering of DPWH records.
Remulla said investigators were looking at that possibility and warned that everyone involved, regardless of rank, would be treated as a potential suspect.
Hontiveros also inquired about how the DOJ would handle critical records that may have been destroyed or altered during the course of the investigation.
“We will have to resort to secondary evidence. But that is an accepted mode under the rules of court and under evidence,” Remulla said, noting that this method would allow investigators to reconstruct the chain of evidence even if original documents were no longer available.
