DOJ readying charges over flood control mess

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will soon file criminal charges against those involved in anomalous flood control projects, citing that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has started submitting its findings.

- By JEFFREY DAMICOG, TRIXIE ROSEL, and HANNAH TORREGOZA

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Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said the DOJ will study if plunder can be filed against those responsible.

But he said that criminal charges for malversation of public funds will surely be filed.

Remulla did not disclose the initial findings of the NBI which he had earlier ordered to conduct its own investigations.

Against state witness status

In an interview with journalists at the DOJ, Remulla said he had recommended to the Senate to decline the grant of state witness status to contractors and spouses Cezarah "Sarah" Discaya and Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya who had admitted during legislative hearings their involvement in the anomalies.

Citing existing laws and jurisprudence, Remulla explained that if the couple wanted to become state witnesses, "they should tell the whole truth, not selective confessions."

At the same time, Remulla said the DOJ will study who, among the officials and employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), can turn state witnesses.

"We will evaluate everybody," he stressed.

Two more DPWH engineers dismissed

As this developed, former assistant district engineers Brice Ericson Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza of the Bulacan First Engineering District have been ordered dismissed from service for their alleged involvement in irregularities in flood control projects, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) disclosed on Friday, Sept. 12.

In a television interview, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said Hernandez and Mendoza, along with dismissed Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara, were implicated in the anomalies.