Department of Public Works and Highways

Dizan, probe on Taguig projects ongoing.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizan said Tuesday that the Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, has found irregularities in some projects in Taguig City, but noted it was too early to label them as ghost projects.

Dizan said an initial report on the investigation has been forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman.

During a recent Senate hearing, Dizon said that the DPWH had so far identified 10 ghost projects nationwide, but none of those 10 was located in Taguig.

The investigation in Taguig, we have just started and it's still ongoing, Dizon said, noting the initial report mentioned discrepancies involving geographical coordinates, including one that pointed to an area in Leyte.

The projects, he added, involved payments to contractor St. Timothy Construction Corporation, owned by embattled couple Curly and Sarah Deskaya.

Vince, for the clarification.

I agree that preliminary inspection findings on several questionable flood control projects in Taguig, such as those on St. Timothy's Slope Protection Project, do not automatically prove a project was ghosted, but we also cannot definitively conclude that no ghost projects exist, Luxon said in a social media post.

Cash deliveries to the residence of Lord Alan Velasco in Vale Verde II allegedly became more frequent after he became Speaker in October 2020, with a former police officer claiming that two suitcases brought to the house contained at least P100 million.

In a sworn affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, dismissed police officer Rodolfo Gracioso Jr. claimed that he was involved in receiving and transporting cash deliveries to Velasco's residence, which he said came from several politicians, lawyers and Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, contractors.

Amid these allegations, Velasco has left the country, the Bureau of Immigration confirmed.

The former speaker has denied Gracioso's allegation through a spokesman.

Dizon, probe on Taguig projects ongoing.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said Tuesday that the Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, has found irregularities in some projects in Taguig City, but noted it was too early to label them as ghost projects.

Dizon said an initial report on the investigation has been forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman.

During a recent Senate hearing, Dizon said that the DPWH had so far identified 10 ghost projects nationwide, but none of those 10 was located in Taguig.

Luxon Presses Dizon Over Taguig Project Luxon Presses Dizon Over Taguig Project Senator Ponfilo Luxon on Sunday asked Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon to explain why billing photographs for a Taguig project carried geotagged coordinates pointing to Leyte.

In a social media post, Luxon cited a Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, inspection report on Contract ID 220BO106, which found that geotagged photographs attached to billing reports contain coordinates outside the verified project limits.

The report said the contract metadata reflected coordinates approximately 600 kilometers away in Leyte province.

Secretary, Vince Dizon, please explain how this finding of your own team should not be flagged as a ghost project in Taguig.

The third billing of P21.202 million and dated September 22, 2022, also had photographs without coordinates.

The fourth and final billing of P18.960 million, dated February 22, 2023, also contained photographs without coordinates.

Lixin said the DPWH inspection report found that the coordinates in the geotagged photographs attached to the progress and final billings do not correspond with the actual project site verified during the inspection.

During Friday's Senate subcommittee hearing on the DPWH's proposed 2027 budget, Dizon said there were no ghost projects in Taguig.

Senator Ponfilo Luxon on Sunday asked Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon to explain why billing photographs for a Taguig project carried geotag coordinates pointing to Leyte.

In a social media post, Luxon cited a Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, inspection report on Contract ID 220B0106, which found that geotagged photographs attached to billing reports contain coordinates outside the verified project limits.

The report said the contract metadata reflected coordinates approximately 600 kilometers away in Leyte province.

Luxon also flagged St. Timothy Construction, the project contractor, which is owned by the Diskaya family, whose companies have been linked to scandal-laden flood control projects.

Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

Dizon testifies vs. Co., former DPWH officials.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon testified before the Sanigan Bayan on Wednesday in a graft case against former ACO Bicol Representative Elizalde Zaldi Co. and several former Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, officials over an alleged substandard flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.

The DPWH said the P289.4 million SunWest project was intended to help mitigate flooding in the province, particularly in the town of Nayon.

Dizon took the witness stand, saying that there were obvious irregularities in the project's implementation.

In September last year, Dizon inspected the project and discovered that the road dike had only a 3-meter steel sheet pile, which was far from the 12-meter requirement.

The DPWH said Dizon's testimony was part of the agency's continuing cooperation with other government agencies to bring to justice those involved in the misuse of public funds.

The DPWH said this was in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to clean up the agency and root out corruption in public works projects.

We also found that political interference could also happen even in what is supposed to be a technical process of project preparation.

This is where agencies like the DPWH produce the technical specification and the design of infrastructure projects.

One of the salient findings of the study is we found that usually for a road project, the shortest distance between two locations is a straight line.

But political interference could result in a road that is...

Exactly.

Are you talking about today or like 10 years ago? So

17 years ago, 17, 18, almost 20 years ago, no? So this happened and the collusion happened and Collusion was not just among contractors, but typically involved politicians, bureaucrats in agencies like the DPWH, DBM, even COA.

And there were all kinds of collusions.

Flood Control Projects Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, has flagged 47 flood control projects in the Congressional District of Davao City Representative Paulo Duterte, the Vice President's older brother, for further scrutiny, with 51 individuals from three construction firms and government agencies set to receive subpoenas.

NBI Director Melvin Mottebag said six of the 47 projects showed what investigators considered clear problems, including alleged ghost and substandard projects, based on documents obtained from the Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH.

The NBI's disclosure sharply expands its investigation into flood control projects in Duterte's district.

where about P1.9 billion worth of contracts were awarded to Genesis 88 Construction Inc. Modibag earlier said the agency was examining why a single contractor secured the projects in the specific congressional district.