Dizon: First arrests to happen in next 2 months
SEVERAL personalities involved in allegedly anomalous flood-control projects may spend Christmas behind bars as the Department of Public Works and Highways intensifies its investigation, Secretary Vince Dizon said Friday.
Dizon said the probe into irregularities in several flood control projects has made “significant progress,” with the agency now working closely with law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies to bring those responsible to justice.
“I think some accused will spend their Christmas in jail. Some of them will be arrested before Christmas,” Dizon said.
“The investigation is moving fast. Ombudsman Boying Remulla said that the first case we filed on September 13 will be the fastest to get some personalities in jail,” he added.
Officials of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure on Friday inspected the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas which may serve as a detention facility for individuals indicted in relation to the flood control scandal.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla accompanied the ICI officials led by chairman Andres Reyes Jr. and commissioner Rogelio Singson.
“Our work is investigative. I know that our people, the taxpayers, are very agitated because they want someone to be imprisoned immediately. Unfortunately, that is not the role of the ICI. Ours is investigative, go to the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan,” Singson said.
DOJ: One month
to finish PI, start
filing of cases
Hernandez drops
state witness
bid––Ombudsman
“It is a long process. What we are trying to do is look at other administrative measures that are a little faster to prosecute, a little faster to identify who is responsible. We are hoping the people will understand that,” he added.
Each dorm in the facility is designed to house 10 inmates and comes equipped with one bathroom, one shower, and one toilet to ensure cleanliness and comfort.
The facility also provides purified drinking water, designated areas for exercise and sunlight exposure, and regulated visitation schedules that allow families to bring cooked food to their detained relatives.
As this developed, the Department of Justice on Friday said it will need about a month before it can start filing a case in court.
“We plan to accomplish preliminary investigation on at least one of the five cases within a one month period… In the conduct of prelimimary investigation, we will afford the parties due process under the law which includes their opportunity to be heard,” Justice spokesperson Polo Martinez said.
Martinez assured the public will be informed once the subpoenas for the investigation have been issued to the respondents.
The DOJ also maintained its position that an applicant for state witness must comply with legal obligations, including restitution of stolen government funds.
“The stolen money must be returned to the public treasury. The prosecution of those involved in the flood control anomaly will be rendered futile if they do not return what they stole to the public funds,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes Andres said.
He cited the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act which states that “any person who has misappropriated government funds has the legal obligation to return the same.”
For his part, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed that former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez was no longer seeking to be a state witness.
Hernandez, however, would be given special consideration as a “cooperative witness.”
“Whether or not they cooperate, they will be convicted, right? In fact, you may not need a state witness at all,” Remulla said.
