MANILA, Philippines — The Batangas district engineer of the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) nabbed over tried bribery was only a dealer for an influential character, Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda-Leviste stated yesterday.
“The cash was not Abelardo Calalo’s, and he was not the one who benefited from this. He’s simply one of many items of the puzzle within the DPWH, the place I, being a congressman, ought to assist reform the system,” the lawmaker stated in Filipino.
Requested who the “large fish” was utilizing Calalo as a pawn, Leviste instructed “Storycon” on One Information that the particular person is at present “highly regarded.”
“This isn’t nearly one particular person. I feel and for my part, this has lengthy been a recurring drawback within the Division of Public Works and Highways,” he added.
On Friday, police recovered a bit of over P3 million in money from Calalo, supposedly bribe cash for Leviste. The congressman stated the engineer personally went to his workplace carrying the bag of money, which additionally included a receipt itemizing three initiatives.
In line with Leviste, this meant the money was straight tied to ongoing contracts.
Leviste filed expenses of direct bribery, corruption of public officers, anti-graft and corrupt practices and violations of the Code of Conduct and Moral Requirements for Public Officers in opposition to Calalo yesterday earlier than the Batangas provincial prosecutor.
He additionally inspired Calalo and different present or former DPWH staff or contractors to show state witness.
“This goes past a P3.1-million bribe, however slightly as much as over P300 million yearly of SOPs (commonplace working procedures) or kickbacks from DPWH initiatives reserved for a congressman of the first district of Batangas,” Leviste stated.
In line with Leviste’s sworn assertion, Calalo reportedly defined that contractors had been keen to provide him 5 to 10 p.c of the P3.6 billion price of initiatives within the district, equal to P180 million to P360 million, as “assist” for his academic applications.
Leviste detailed that one contractor was reportedly ready to withdraw an preliminary P15 million, whereas the P3.1 million offered by Calalo represented three p.c of a P104-million challenge, with receipts included within the money supplied.
In line with Leviste, district engineers described to him how initiatives had been awarded with out real bidding within the 1st district of Batangas, the place contractors are allegedly handpicked by a sitting congressman in alternate for kickbacks.
District engineers additionally recognized main contractors and named those that supposedly influenced challenge bidding and implementation throughout the tenure of a earlier 1st district consultant.
SOP normalized
“If I had agreed, conferences with contractors would have taken place this week, doubtlessly producing a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of pesos in kickbacks from 2025 initiatives. Over three years, the full kickbacks reserved for a congressman of a 1st district of Batangas might exceed P1 billion,” Leviste stated.
Leviste instructed Storycon yesterday that the difficulty goes past one district engineer.
“The engineer himself known as it SOP, which exhibits how normalized this apply has turn into. Even when a congressman doesn’t settle for the ten to twenty p.c, it’s already embedded within the price range. If one particular person refuses, another person within the system takes it,” he stated.
Leviste added that the substandard works in his district, together with flood management initiatives that collapsed throughout latest typhoons, uncovered how public funds had been being wasted.
“We discovered sheet piles that had been purported to be 15 meters lengthy however had been solely 4 meters. These had been paid for with taxpayer cash. That is why I can’t settle for any SOP,” the lawmaker stated.
Chiz warns contractors of arrest
Senate President Francis Escudero stated he has signed the subpoenas issued in opposition to 10 DPWH contractors who snubbed the Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigation on attainable corruption in flood management initiatives.
The contractors danger arrest in the event that they snub the probe once more, Escudero added in an opportunity interview yesterday on the Senate.
Escudero stated he signed the subpoenas final week and expects that the Workplace of the Sergeant-at-Arms would serve these to the contractors this week.
He stated these contractors ought to face the Senate throughout the second scheduled listening to subsequent week, amid allegations that they had been among the many prime 15 contractors which cornered P100 billion of the full P545.6 billion in flood management initiatives since 2022.
“Accusations just lately are left and proper, however in actuality, any type of corruption or ghost challenge should be checked out and investigated and people discovered at fault penalized,” he famous.
Escudero stated he is not going to hesitate to signal arrest warrants if the contractors proceed to defy the Senate’s orders to attend the hearings.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca stated 4 subpoenas had been served to contractors based mostly in Metro Manila, whereas the remaining six shall be served to contractors based mostly in Albay, Sorsogon, Bulacan, Pampanga and Benguet.
Profiteering slammed
Sen. Bong Go, vice chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, condemned anomalous infrastructure initiatives, stressing that each one these accountable – from contractors to legislators – should be investigated and held accountable.
“They profited from the flooding? Maintain them chargeable for this mess!” Go declared, as he known as out ghost initiatives, subpar infrastructure and questionable allocations for flood management.
The senator emphasised that nobody must be spared within the ongoing probe. “Whether or not a relative, good friend or name-dropper, we should always not coddle anybody, particularly those that enriched themselves from initiatives that had been haphazard and endangered the lives of the general public.”
Go described the scenario as a grave insult to Filipinos, stating how revelations of huge irregularities coincided with devastating floods nationwide.
“For the file, as early as August 2023 throughout a Senate listening to of the committee on public works, I already known as out DPWH to offer a flood management grasp plan, current their accomplishments that actually benefitted the individuals and clarify their prioritization since I’ve personally found flood management initiatives located in areas with little to no human inhabitants. Who’s being protected by these flood management initiatives? Maybe it was deliberately hidden so their corruption gained’t be found,” the senator stated.
Villar alarmed over pretend geotagged pictures
Former public works secretary and now Sen. Mark Villar raised alarm over reviews that contractors “could have submitted falsified geotagged pictures” to get funding for his or her initiatives with authorities.
Villar issued the assertion amid reviews of ghost and substandard flood management initiatives as a result of alleged collusion amongst corrupt lawmakers, DPWH district engineers and contractors.
“Did these defective contractors submit faked geotagged pictures? If that’s the case, that’s outright fraud,” Villar stated yesterday, calling out these contractors who willfully deceive the federal government.
“No contractor ought to have been capable of accumulate from the federal government on the premise of deception,” Villar stated.
He stated when he was DPWH secretary from 2016 to 2021, he required geotagging all infrastructure initiatives as an anti-corruption measure.
In his Division Order (DO) No. 79 signed in 2017, Villar required the taking of geotagged pictures earlier than, throughout and after the implementation of the general public works challenge.
“To be able to enhance transparency and accountability, building personnel shall seize geotagged pictures of all infrastructure initiatives for implementation in accordance with the Pointers for Geotagging Infrastructure Initiatives in Contract Administration Stage. Using geotagging know-how will present a extra clear and correct reporting of challenge accomplishments,” the DO learn, as revealed within the DPWH web site.
Geotagging is outlined within the DO as “the attachment of geographical identification to digital media reminiscent of pictures, video or any file.”
It contains “the attachment of x and y coordinates to {a photograph}, in order that the placement at which the {photograph} was taken could be proven routinely in a map.”
“The entire goal of necessary geotagging was to verify the federal government and the general public might confirm that work was truly being accomplished the place and when it was purported to be,” Villar stated. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Evelyn Macairan, Bella Cariaso