A thorough audit should be conducted on projects handled by contractors admitted into the Witness Protection Program (WPP) to determine how much was taken from public funds, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno said.
Diokno made the statement following the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement that four individuals were accepted into the WPP in connection with alleged anomalous flood control projects.
Those admitted into the WPP include former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara, DPWH engineer Gerard Opulencia, and contractor Sally Santos, owner and manager of SYMS Construction Trading.
Diokno said a thorough audit should have been conducted on all contracts and projects handled by those who entered the Witness Protection Program.
The lawmaker said electronic devices should also have been seized, as these could reveal accomplices and the projects that were manipulated.
Alcantara, Opulencia, and Santos have recently returned millions of pesos in stolen public funds.
Diokno, however, said forfeiture proceedings must still be pursued to ensure that those accountable for the anomalous flood control projects return all the funds they stole.
He said full cooperation requires that witnesses disclose everything they know about flood control and other infrastructure projects and testify accordingly, adding that no individual involved should be spared and all names must be disclosed to the DOJ and later in court.