1 nabbed, others vanish in flood-control ops

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and operatives of the Quezon City Police District intensified the manhunt for individuals implicated in the widening flood-control scandal, arresting one DPWH engineer even as several other suspects remained missing after weekend operations.

NBI Officer-in-Charge Angelito Magno said authorities began serving warrants immediately upon receipt, following directives from the President and the Department of Justice. “This morning, we were able to apprehend one of the individuals listed in the arrest warrant in Quezon City,” he said.

The arrested suspect, Engineer Dennis P. Abagon, officer-in-charge of the DPWH Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division and a member of the Bids and Awards Committee, is now in NBI custody and undergoing standard processing. He faces a non-bailable charge of malversation.

Magno said agents were forced to enter Abagon’s residence after the occupant refused to open the door, though the suspect was unharmed.

He warned that anyone hiding wanted individuals could face obstruction of justice charges. “It is better for those sought by law to surrender voluntarily to avoid unnecessary risks,” he said.

While the NBI secured one suspect, QCPD teams conducting simultaneous warrant sweeps failed to locate several others linked to the alleged flood-control anomalies.

QCPD’s Warrant Tracker Team and CIDG officers first checked a Rolling Hills, New Manila residence for Anthony Ngo, a Sunwest Construction board member, but a caretaker said he no longer lived there.

Sunwest, owned by members of former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co’s family, is implicated in billions of pesos worth of questionable flood-control contracts.

Multiple teams then moved across the city on 22 November to verify other registered addresses.