5 DPWH officials in Iloilo City dismissed for road project irregularities

MANILA, Philippines — The chief city engineer and four other officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineering office in Iloilo City were dismissed from service for alleged irregularities nine years ago in a major road project.

The Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas found District Engineer officer-in-Charge Teodoro Castillo, the bids and awards committee chair Ruby Lagoc and members Joemar Nepomuceno, Nestor Molato and Jonathan Dublas, guilty of grave misconduct.

The Ombudsman found several irregularities in the 2006 bidding for the construction of a portion of the Iloilo-Jaro Diversion Road costing P9 million.

The DPWH-Iloilo City district engineering office officials made it appear that a bidding was conducted before the project was awarded to JSG Construction Co. Inc.

The project duration was supposed to be 60 days. But documents showed the project was finished merely 14 days after the official notice to proceed was issued.

On the same day, the contractor also submitted its first and final billing and the disbursement voucher for the processing of payment was prepared.

The project was reported 100 per cent completed three days later.

“It is doubtful if a bidding was actually conducted because the supporting documents of the project…do not show that there was a publication of the bidding with the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System and there are no copies of the bidding documents of the purported bidders,” Deputy Ombudsman Paul Elmer Clemente said in a statement.

Along with their dismissal, the five DPWH-Iloilo City officials also lost their retirement benefits and were barred from holding public office again.

The Ombudsman meanwhile dismissed the case against accountant Condrado Sorongon, Jr. for “lack of substantial evidence.”