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Marc Jayson Cayabyab - The Philippine Star
January 28, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways must brace itself for contractors who might bow out of government biddings following recent agency reforms to curb corruption during project costing, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.
“The DPWH should anticipate how to deal with contractors unwilling to participate in the bidding of projects due to reduced cost of construction materials,” he said.
Late last year, DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon signed an order for the immediate use of lower prices of construction materials in the preparation and review of cost estimates of all agency infrastructure projects – a measure he described as the single biggest reform he has undertaken since joining the department.
Cost of construction materials were reduced by up to 50 percent – a result of President Marcos’ direct order to the DPWH.
Because of the house cleaning, Lacson warned of the low bidding turnout as contractors and lawmakers will no longer have kickbacks to share among themselves.
“Their early advances to legislators after the National Expenditure Program was finalized will not help obviate a looming infrastructure crisis,” Lacson said.
Jinggoy, Revilla, Bonoan summoned
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it has issued subpoenas to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, detained former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan in connection with plunder cases involving flood control projects.
DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez said the preliminary investigation on the plunder cases had been set on Feb. 2 and 12 and the subpoenas direct the respondents’ appearance before prosecutors.
The first sessions, he said, are for the separate plunder cases of Revilla and Estrada. He said the cases will be handled by different panels of prosecutors.
Bonoan, who recently returned to the country, is a co-respondent of Estrada in the plunder complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation over alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
Currently, there are three plunder cases pending before the DOJ involving the flood control scandal, the third of which involves Sen. Joel Villanueva.
Martinez earlier said the plunder complaints do not involve a single project or locality but center on allegations that respondents amassed ill-gotten wealth exceeding P50 million through a series of transactions tied to flood control projects.
Tax raps set vs Discayas
Similarly, the DOJ will file tax evasion cases before the Court of Tax Appeals against contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, particularly for violation of Sections 254 (Willful Attempt to Evade or Defeat Taxes) and 255 (Willful Failure to Supply Correct and Accurate Information) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.
Martinez said the two cases are out of the five complaints resolved by the DOJ involving the couple.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue had filed before the DOJ tax complaints against the Discayas involving an accumulated tax liability of P7.18 billion from 2018 to 2021.
As for wanted fugitive and former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co, he must first return $1 billion or P59 billion of public funds he allegedly stole through anomalous flood control projects if he wants to have an audience with the government, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.
In a similar development, the Sandiganbayan has disallowed two prosecution witnesses – cashiers from DPWH Mimaropa – from testifying in the bail hearing of their colleagues in a flood control malversation case in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
The prosecution sought to present DPWH-Mimaropa cashiers Carla Grace Dajonog and Pilar Gacutan to testify in the bail hearing of their DPWH-Mimaropa colleagues Gerald Pacanan, Gene Altea, Ruben Delos Santos Jr., Dominic Serrano, Lerma Cayco, Felisardo Casuno, Dennis Abagon, Juliet Calvo and Montrexis Tamayo.
The prosecution said Dajonog and Gacutan’s testimonies would show contractor Sunwest Inc., which is linked to Co, received payment from the DPWH regional office through the Land Bank of the Philippines’ electronic disbursement management system.
The defense objected to the presentation of the witnesses, saying they were not listed in the prosecution’s pretrial brief. — Daphne Galvez, Emmanuel Tupas
