AMLC freezes bank accounts of DPWH officials, Discayas

Authorities have frozen 135 bank accounts and 27 insurance policies linked to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and contractors implicated in alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

- KEISHA TA-ASAN

In a landmark move to recover public funds, the Court of Appeals granted yesterday a petition for a freeze order filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), covering assets of individuals and corporations now under investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.

"This is a critical step toward filing appropriate civil and criminal cases, including money laundering and civil forfeiture," AMLC executive director Matthew David said.

Preliminary AMLC findings point to a possible money laundering scheme involving public funds intended for flood control initiatives, raising the scale of suspected corruption to what DPWH Secretary Vivencio Dizon called “hundreds of billions.”

The approval came just days after the DPWH lodged its first petition before the Office of the Ombudsman on Sept. 12 against 26 people, composed of 20 DPWH personnel and six contractors. Dizon said the agency immediately sought the assistance of the AMLC to prevent illicit funds from being moved.

“The banks of the personalities named in the first petition have already been informed to freeze their accounts. This is a huge step to ensure accountability and to make sure that people get their money back,” Dizon told reporters.

The freeze order covers 26 respondents named in the DPWH’s ombudsman complaint. These include former OIC-assistant regional director Henry Alcantara, former OICdistrict engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez as well as former OIC-assistant district engineer Jaypee Mendoza.

Also implicated are John Michael Ramos, chief of the Construction Section; Ernesto Galang of the Planning and Design Section; Lorenzo Pagtalunan, OIC-chief of the Maintenance Section; Norberto Santos of the Quality Assurance and Hydrology Section and Jaime Hernandez of the Maintenance Section.