3 ex-DWPH execs, contractor dropped from criminal cases over flood control
Three officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and a contractor have been named as state witnesses in cases involving anomalous flood control projects, the Department of Justice said yesterday.
Justice Acting Secretary Fredderick Vida said former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara, former DPWH-NCR Regional Director Gerard Opulencia and SYMS Construction Trading owner Sally Santos are now immune from criminal liability
“Being discharged from criminal liability is a right of state witnesses, specifically in the particular case that they are helping us with…But for other cases, that is subject to another discussion,” Vida said.
“They are cooperating with the DOJ to strengthen our cases against those we are pursuing,” he added.
However, former DPWH engineers Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, who also applied for the Witness Protection Program, did not qualify as state witnesses, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said.
“We do not see the need yet to discharge them in the cases that they are (offering to help us with) to be accepted as state witnesses,” Fadullon said.
The four state witnesses have already returned a total of P316,381,500 in restitution — Alcantara with P181 million, Opulencia with P80 million, Santos with P20 million, and Bernardo with P35 million.
In total, the DOJ said it expects a total of P1.5 billion in restitution from the four state witnesses
Bernardo, in particular, will have to return the balance of the P1 billion in restitution under his memorandum of agreement with the DOJ.
Vida, however, clarified that restitution is not the only consideration in being named a state witness.
On Wednesday, Alcantara put an end to claims he has recanted his testimonies on flood control project kickbacks of politicians, saying these are “false and misleading.”
“The public must remain vigilant and should obtain information only from verified, identifiable, and reliable sources. Any information coming from sources other than the Department of Justice or from the undersigned should be treated with caution for potential inaccuracy,” Alcantara’s lawyer, Emil Karlo Joven, in a statement.
Last week, Ramon Esguerra, lawyer of Senator Joel Villanueva, claimed former Alcantara retracted his earlier statements.
Villanueva was among the sitting senators, along with Jinggoy Estrada, named by Alcantara in September during a Senate hearing as being involved in budget insertions and alleged kickbacks from flood control projects.
Alcantara previously told the Senate that flood control project proponents get as much as 25 to 30 percent of the proposed insertions.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “DOJ names state witnesses in flood infra mess”
