Ping to provide evidence vs 'rotten fruits' of DPWH

There is evidence against the "low-hanging rotten fruits" in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he is ready to present to Secretary Vince Dizon.

- By MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

"My office will provide you with damning evidence against some 'low-hanging rotten fruits' that will instill fear so that others will think twice before following their bad examples," Lacson said yesterday in a statement.

"Godspeed, Sec. Vince Dizon. May the force be with you to cleanse the DPWH of greed and self-aggrandizement," Lacson added.

He said he will deliver the second part of his privilege speech on flood control corruption — dubbed "Flooded Gates of Corruption" — on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Lacson earlier alleged that sacked district engineers Henry Alcantara and Bryce Hernandez were members of a "syndicate" within the DPWH behind ghost and flood control projects in Bulacan.

Hernandez was summoned by the Senate after he snubbed the previous Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the corruption scheme.

Alcantara attended the hearing and admitted going to casinos with Hernandez. Government officials are prohibited from going to casinos.

In a dwIZ interview yesterday, Sen. JV Ejercito said he is looking forward to grilling two other Bulacan district engineers, Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, who are Alcantara’s alleged accomplices and companions in his casino escapades.

Ejercito, during the previous Blue Ribbon hearing, described Hernandez as a highroller who gambled millions of pesos. He also called out their group for living lavishly, including owning Ferrari cars and Patek Philippe watches.

He said they appeared to be the “most guilty” in the scheme, as he balked at suggestions that they be made state witnesses in the cases to be filed over the corruption scheme.

“They are the most guilty here, so I’m not sure if they will qualify as state witnesses,” Ejercito said.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Senate reporters, law firm Flaminiano Arroyo & Dueñas took exception to reports that described client Alcantara as the “alleged ‘kingpin’ of the Flood Control Ghost Projects in Bulacan.”