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NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – A corruption watchdog on Wednesday, May 21, filed graft complaints against a dozen officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Western Visayas and a contractor before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City.
The group, Crimes and Corruption Watch International (CCWI), named DPWH Region VI Director Sanny Boy Oropel in its complaint, along with district engineers Robert Palmera, Randolfo Melosantos, Allan Rey Pajimna, Roy Pacanan, and Bernadette Betsy Uy.
CCWI also included members of the DPWH regional bids and awards committee in the complaint: Mary Grace Bulaquina-Hachuela, Marilou Zamora, Ormel Santos, Gladwyn Ledesma, Roland Rainier Victorino, and Ricardo Gutierrez.
The watchdog alleged that the DPWH officials favored International Builders Corporation (IBC) and included the firm in its complaint.
Specifically, CCWI accused the DPWH officials of violating laws on government procurement, graft, and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees by allegedly allowing IBC to corner some P3.2 billion worth of contracts, including those intended for road and bridge projects, awarded by DPWH-VI in 2024 alone.
CCWI president Carlomagno Batalla filed the 30-page complaint with 600 pages of documentary evidence together with Margaretta Fernandez and Millicent Ang-Espina, CCWI executive director and deputy director, respectively.
Batalla also noted that from 2016 to 2024, IBC had won around P40 billion worth of DPWH VI projects.
Ang-Espina, during an online news conference on Thursday, May 22, said the complaint covered 26 infrastructure projects awarded in 2024 to Iloilo-based IBC headed by Helen Edith Lee Tan.
The firm is also behind the controversial Ungka and Aganan flyover project in Jaro, Iloilo City, and Pavia town, respectively.
Ang-Espina said that in February 2024 alone, the DPWH awarded 14 projects worth P1.9 billion to IBC, and another 13 projects in March worth P1.3 billion.
“Of all these projects, IBC notably suffered significant delays among 22 of them. Some, until now, are yet to be finished,” she said.
Such delays should have disqualified IBC from participating in future bidding processes, Ang-Espina added.
“Allowing IBC to join again and corner high-value projects constituted a blatant violation on the part of the respondent officials of DPWH,” Batalla said. “The fact that DPWH didn’t suspend IBC despite all its lapses and delays on 22 out of 26 projects means the officials must be held liable under Section 99 of Republic Act No. 12009, or the National Government Procurement Act.”
The legal provision requires government agencies to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of contract implementation and the delivery of services.
Director Oropel, however, maintained their innocence, and accused CCWI of having ill-motives and supposedly wanting to embarrass them. He did not elaborate.
“The message is clear. The accuser wants to embarrass us, wants to threaten us, wants to besmirch the good reputation of DPWH-VI,” Oropel told Rappler on Wednesday, May 21. “We will fight. We will clear our names. We will defend our agency.”
Oropel said they were aware of Batalla and his group’s methods and would reveal everything about their motives at the appropriate forum.
He said it was not the first time that CCWI filed complaints against DPWH officials. In 2022, he said, Batalla’s group also filed similar complaints against his predecessor, now DPWH Assistant Secretary Nerie Bueno, and the complaints were dismissed by the Ombudsman.
Oropel said he had no hand in the bidding and awarding process, explaining that his role was limited to project implementation. He also denied influencing the bids and awards committee.
He accused CCWI of being selective in filing complaints against DPWH officials, suggesting that there were others who could have been included. He did not elaborate.
Oropel currently oversees 11 district engineering offices following the transfer of four others to the newly formed Negros Island Region. These offices are located in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo province, and Iloilo City.
Batalla, for his part, brushed aside Oropel’s insinuation that CCWI was out to embarrass and threaten DPWH officials. “As a Filipino citizen, I have all the right to do that given the anomalous transactions,” he said.
He said the CCWI’s move was aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in public service. – Rappler.com
