2 DPWH-Davao officials given 5 days to explain “ghost” flood control project
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 September) — Secretary Vince Dizon of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued separate show-cause orders to two officials here in Davao Region in connection with a “ghost” flood control project discovered during an inspection in Barangay Culaman, Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, last Thursday.
The orders, dated September 26 but released on Saturday, directed DPWH-Davao Regional Director Juby B. Cordon and Rodrigo C. Larete, district engineer of the DPWH Davao Occidental District Engineering Office, to submit a written explanation under oath within five days from receipt of such order, stating why they should not be held administratively liable for the anomalous flood control project.
Last September 25, Dizon and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who was then special adviser for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), inspected the P96.5 million infrastructure project the government awarded in 2022 to St. Timothy Construction Company, one of the many construction firms owned by government contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II and his wife, Sarah.
During inspection, the officials found that the project remained unfinished “despite the project having been declared completed and the full payment having been made to St. Timothy Construction Company as early as 2022.”
Dizon added that reports from local residents, including the village chief, established that actual construction activities had commenced only two to three weeks prior to the inspection.
He warned Larete that findings of the investigations are a matter of serious concern and may constitute violations of existing laws, regulations, and orders, including Grave Misconduct, Gross Neglect of Duty, Serious Dishonesty, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of Service under the 2025 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service.
In a video uploaded to the official Facebook account of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Dizon can be heard berating Larete for paying St. Timothy despite the project remaining unfinished.
“Don’t you feel sorry for the students and the people there? Don’t you think of them? Why did you pay for an incomplete project?” he said.
At a press conference at the office of the DPWH 11 in Panacan, Thursday, Dizon told reporters that Larete and other officials who signed the “completion report” and authorized the full payment for the ghost project would all “go to jail.”
Dizon said ghost projects are “unacceptable,” warning regional offices of the DPWH to immediately report to the Central Office all anomalous infrastructure projects within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
He said there is “systemic corruption from top to bottom” within the DPWH, dating back to previous administrations.
“We are focusing on the entire country, and it is not easy. We got reports from here, and so we came here,” he said. “Priority is the entire country,” he added. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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