PACC probes 12 DPWH misdeals

The anti-corruption campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte has stepped up with the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission currently probing 10 to 12 reported cases of corrupt practices at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica said on Friday.

“We have around 10 or a dozen that are still pending and under investigation in DPWH,” Belgica said.

Most of the cases under investigation involved negotiated biddings and projects with suspected under-the-table deals, but he refused to identify officials or DPWH regional offices involved.

He declined to provide specific details, saying the PACC cannot disclose information yet due to the ongoing investigation.

“While the cases are still under investigation, we cannot reveal (anything). We have to complete a report and submit it to the President,” he said.

Belgica reminded DPWH executives to “toe the line” and refrain from engaging in dubious transactions that may put the agency in a bad light.

“We are here upon the permission of the President and (DPWH) Secretary (Mark) Villar and Undersecretary (Roberto) Bernardo. If we can knock and plead with our government officials, especially district engineers, because politicians will sure(ly) be raising funds for the coming election through contractors,” he said.

“The positions of district engineers are very powerful and critical. They are the implementors on the ground. They are the ones who handle the papers and they are the ones directly talking to the contractors,” he added.

Bernardo assured the public the DPWH would coordinate and provide the necessary information the PACC may require.

“Rest assured that we will coordinate. I think the 12 cases have yet to prosper but in the past case, the DPWH has already done whatever had to done,” he said in an interview.

Last year, Villar sacked a district engineer caught in a video allegedly extorting a P20 million kickback from a contractor.