MANILA — Eight Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials implicated in the alleged multimillion-peso flood control irregularities in Oriental Mindoro formally pleaded “not guilty” on Thursday, marking the start of full-blown court proceedings in one of the agency’s most controversial corruption cases in recent years.
The respondents — DPWH regional director Gerald Pacanan; Assistant Regional Directors Gene Ryan Altea and Ruben D.S. Santos; Construction Division chief and Bids and Awards Committee chair Dominic Serrano; Project Engineer III Felisardo Casuno; Accountant IV Lerma Cayco; OIC–Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division chief and BAC member Dennis Abagon; and Planning and Design Division OIC Engineer Montrexis Tamayo — appeared before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to enter their pleas.
DPWH Chief Maintenance Division head Juliet Calvo failed to attend the arraignment, prompting the court to reset her schedule to December 2.
The Sandiganbayan has lined up a series of pre-conference hearings for the graft case on January 9, 19, and 26, as well as February 5, 12, 19, and 26 next year — a timetable that signals the court’s push to move the high-profile case forward.
Meanwhile, the same group of respondents is also set to be arraigned before the court’s Sixth Division on December 2 for a separate malversation case.
The charges arise from alleged anomalies in flood control projects in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, which earlier triggered multiple investigations, the suspension of officials, and high-visibility arrests involving DPWH personnel./PN
