The Office of the Ombudsman announced on Friday that it will be filing criminal charges against several officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the owners of St. Timothy Construction Corporation, including Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya, over a ₱96.5 million “ghost” or non-existent infrastructure project in Davao Occidental.
“The complaint alleges that the respondents conspired to facilitate the release of ₱96,500,000.00 for the supposed construction of a revetment project in Barangay Culaman, Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental—a project which, based on official inspection and witness accounts, was never implemented,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.
“There was no actual construction. Yet, respondents certified that the project was completed. They are found to have falsified accomplishment reports, issued fraudulent billing documents, and endorsed disbursement vouchers that triggered the release of the entire project cost,” it added.
Upon conducting an on-ground inspection, the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) found that construction only began after the flood control matter drew heightened public attention.
The respondents listed are: District Engineer Rodrigo C. Larete, Assistant District Engineer Michael P. Awa, several section chiefs, project engineers, and inspectors of the DPWH Davao Occidental Engineering Office, and private individuals Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando and Cezarah Rowena Discaya of St. Timothy Construction Corp.
The DPWH officials tagged in the anomaly have been preventively suspended for six months.
The criminal cases, which include Malversation of Public Funds through Falsification of Public Documents and the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, are set to be filed before the Digos City Regional Trial Court (RTC).
Earlier today, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. assured that more individuals involved the flood control scandal will be held accountable, stating “marami pang magpapasko sa kulungan.”
The Ombudsman previously filed a case against resigned Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and 17 officials from the DPWH Region IV-B and Sunwest Corp. in relation to an anomalous Naujan, Oriental Mindoro flood control project worth ₱289.49 million.
