MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman has escalated its crackdown on alleged corruption in public infrastructure, ordering the preventive suspension of 12 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in Mimaropa over a purportedly substandard P289-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
The move comes as part of parallel administrative and criminal cases, marking one of the Ombudsman’s most sweeping disciplinary actions against a regional DPWH office in recent years.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the order — signed by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Oct. 23 — targets DPWH-Mimaropa leadership and key members of its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
Suspended were regional director Gerald Pacanan; assistant regional directors Gene Ryan Altea and Ruben D.S. Santos; Planning and Design Division OIC-chief Montrexis Tamayo; and construction division chief and BAC chairperson Dominic Serrano.
Others ordered suspended for six months were:
* Dennis Abagon, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division OIC-chief and BAC member
* Juliet Calvo, Maintenance Division chief
* Lerma Cayco, accountant IV
* Felisardo Casuno, project engineer III
* Grace Lopez, BAC member
* Frierich Karl Camero, Legal Division chief
* Timojen Sacar, materials engineer
Clavano said the suspension arose from administrative complaints filed alongside criminal charges for alleged violations of Sections 4(a), 7(a), and 7(b) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, based on findings of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
The controversy has already reached the Sandiganbayan. On Tuesday, Pacanan, Altea, Santos, Tamayo, Serrano, Abagon, Calvo, Cayco, and Casuno pleaded not guilty to malversation charges tied to the project, which prosecutors allege was delivered below standard despite its multi-million-peso budget.
The Lim & Yutatco-Sze Law Firm, counsel for several of the suspended officials, has stood by the project’s integrity, stressing that it remains functional: the project is “serviceable,” the firm maintained./PN
