Bulacan DPWH district exec sacked, ‘floating”

Bonoan: P450 B Inserted in 2025 DPWH Budget

- JANVIC MATEO

Officials of the first district engineering office of the Department of Public Works and Highways, including the former district engineer, have been relieved and placed on floating status, DPWH Secretary Manual Bonoan said yesterday.

In an interview with "Storycon" on One News, Bonoan said he has issued a show-cause order against former Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara and other officials of the district engineering office to explain the alleged ghost flood control projects implemented by their office.

"I issued to them a few days ago a show-cause order based on especially the projects that the President went to see in San Miguel, Bulacan," Bonoan said.

"I issued a show-cause order for them to explain actually the status that were looked into by the President, as well as the other projects we have seen ourselves," he added.

Appointed as officer-in-charge of Bulacan's first district engineering office in 2019, Alcantara was promoted to OIC assistant regional director in Calabarzon in June. He was replaced in Bulacan's first district by then assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez.

Hernandez, along with officials of the district office, was also reportedly relieved pending the investigation on issues surrounding flood control projects.

A special order issued by Bonoan on Aug. 11 designated Jayson Jauco, chief of DPWH Region III construction division, as concurrent DPWH Bulacan first district OIC.

Ghost projects

According to Bonoan, their ongoing investigation showed that ghost projects so far only exist in the mentioned district engineering office, which covers three legislative districts of the province.

He denied the claim of a barangay captain in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro that there are also ghost projects in the municipality, saying there might have been a "miscommunication" as to its location.