Arroyo wants vehicle repair raps filed vs 3 DPWH execs

President Arroyo ordered yesterday three officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) charged before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly pocketing P150 million in state funds.

She also ordered Public Works Secretary Simeon Datumanong to have two undersecretaries investigated for allegedly failing to immediately report a vehicle repair scam that has resulted in millions of pesos in losses for the government.

Government Corporate Counsel Amado Valdez said Undersecretaries Edmond Mir and Mabini Pablo have been suspended for 90 days for "neglect of duty."

"The DPWH is made up of many good men and women. And we don’t want the majority who are good to be punished by the few who are bad. And the higher they go, the harder they must fall," Mrs. Arroyo told reporters.

The three officials were identified as Emily Tanquintic, director for comptrollership and finance management; Bert Paborito, director for administration and manpower management; and Florendo Arias, assistant director of the department’s bureau of equipment. All three are presidential appointees.

Mrs. Arroyo assigned the case to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, which handles cases involving government-run corporations, instead of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, which handles cases involving presidential appointees.

Earlier Mrs. Arroyo ordered the OGCC to help the BIR in filing charges against 300 firms for allegedly evading taxes.

Aside from Tanquintic, Paborito and Arias, 28 other department officials and employees face administrative and criminal charges for their alleged involvement in the scam.

Mrs. Arroyo said she wants the three directors placed at the top of the list of respondents when the case is filed against them and their conspirators.

"So this is a signal to the rest of anybody who thinks that they can do away with wrongdoing just because they are presidential appointees... they have to think twice and they have to behave," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said the filing of the charges is in line with her efforts to build a "strong republic," a vow she made in her State of the Nation Address last month.

The three officials and their co-accused allegedly signed about 7,000 vouchers reimbursing bogus personal expenses for repairs of over 500 DPWH vehicles and heavy equipment and pocketed the money.

A new five-member investigative panel will convene this week and question the 31 accused "to determine who among them would ultimately be held responsible," a DPWH source said.

The panel was formed by Datumanong and headed by National Irrigation Administration lawyer Gabriel Enriquez. The NIA is an attached agency of the DPWH.

The scam began sometime in the 1980s and was only discovered seven months ago. In some instances, investigators found that the bogus repairs cost much more than the value of the vehicle.

In one case, it was discovered that P900,000 was spent only last year on fictitious repairs on an old model Mercedes-Benz.

In previous surveys, the DPWH was seen as one of the most corrupt government agencies along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and the Philippine National Police.

Last month, US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said in an interview that corruption is one of the country’s biggest problems that is driving away foreign investors, triggering criticism from some lawmakers.

Upon assuming office in 2001, Mrs. Arroyo pledged to root out corruption, a serious problem that hounded past administrations.

In January 2001, Mrs. Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was ousted in a military-backed popular protest after he was accused by an estranged drinking buddy of taking bribes from illegal gambling bosses, misusing state funds and profiting from insider trading.

Arrested last year, Estrada is now detained in a military hospital and currently on trial for plunder, a charge that carries the death penalty. — Marichu Villanueva