Corruption slowly unmasked

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Wednesday, Sept. 24, asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze nearly P500 million in luxury vehicles and almost P5 billion in aircraft connected to officials and contractors allegedly involved in ghost and substandard flood control projects.

- TRIXEE ROSEL, JEFFREY DAMICOG, and ELLSON QUISMORIO

It likewise issued show-cause orders to several regional directors (RD) and district engineers (DE) for alleged lavish lifestyles, substandard projects, or failure to cooperate with investigations.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the move aims to trace ill-gotten wealth and hold accountable those implicated in the multi-billion-peso corruption scheme. He added that the agency has also submitted asset inventories to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) for further investigation.

The freeze covers P474,483,120 worth of motor vehicles registered to 26 individuals under investigation, including: 1. Dismissed DPWH Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara 2. Dismissed DPWH Bulacan first district assistant engineer Brice Hernandez 3. Dismissed DPWH Bulacan first district assistant engineer Jaypee Mendoza 4. John Michael Ramos 5. Ernesto Galang 6. Lorenzo Alcoriza Pagtalunan 7. Norberto Santos 8. Jaime Hernandez 9. Floralyn Simbulan 10. Juanito Mendoza 11. Roberto Roque 12. Benedict Matawaran 13. Cristina Mae Del Rosario Pineda 14. Paul Jayson Fronda Duya 15. Merg Jaron Caparas Laus 16. Lemuel Ephraim San Diego Roque 17. Arjay Salvador Domasig 18. John Carlo Cayetano Rivera 19. John Benex Santos Francisco 20. Jolo Mari Villafuerte Tayao 21. Ma. Roma Angeline D. Rimando 22. Cezarah Rowena Cruz Discaya 23. Pacifico Discaya II 24. Mark Allan Villamor Arevalo 25. Sally Nicolas Santos 26. Robert Tecson Imperio.

Hernandez has already surrendered one of his luxury vehicles to the ICI as a gesture of cooperation with authorities.

Aircraft flagged