Sandiganbayan Commences Trial on P289M Substandard Flood Control Project

The Sandiganbayan starts on Tuesday, Jan. 20, the trial of fugitive and resigned congressman Zaldy Co and other accused who were charged with non-bailable malversation of public funds in the P289 million “substandard” flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon, who is one of the complainants in the case, is expected to testify during the hearing before the anti-graft court’s sixth division. Aside from Co, accused in the case are DPWH Region IV-B Regional Director Gerald A. Pacanan, Assistant Regional Director Gene Ryan A. Altea, Assistant Regional Director Ruben D. Santos, Jr., Construction Division Chief Dominic G. Serrano, Project Engineer III Felisardo S. Casuno, Accountant IV Lerma D. Cayco, Maintenance Division Head Juliet Calvo, officer-in-charge Chief of Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division Dennis Pelo Abagon, and Planning and Design Division officer-in-charge Montrexis Tamayo. Co has remained abroad and beyond the jurisdiction of the court. His passport had been cancelled and he had been declared a fugitive from justice. Nine officials from the DPWH have already been arraigned and pleaded "not guilty" to the charges last Dec. 2, and they are currently detained as the prosecution has recommended no bail for them. The female accused were brought to Camp Karingal in Quezon City while the male accused went to the Payatas new jail facility. Co and the others are also facing a violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, before the anti-graft court’s fifth division. Co also has a separate graft case before the seventh division. The cases stemmed from the irregular P289 million flood control project for the Construction of a Road Dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan town, which was found to be substandard.