Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan first district engineer Jaypee Mendoza was cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probing the anomalous flood control projects in the country.

During the hearing, under the questioning of Senator JV Ejercito, SYMS Construction Trading owner and manager Sally Santos told senators that Mendoza and DPWH assistant engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez forced her to let them use her license for flood control projects or else she would no longer get contracts in the future.

"Hinihiram niyo yung lisensya niya para doon sa inyong 'in-house projects' yung kayo po gumagawa pero papeles lang yun (You’re borrowing his license for your so-called ‘in-house projects,’ where you’re the ones actually doing the work but it’s just on paper)," Ejercito said.

Mendoza was the one who supported the testimony of Hernandez, who linked Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada to flood control projects in Bulacan worth almost P1 billion.

According to Hernandez, it was former DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office head Henry Alcantara who ordered him to talk to Sally to look for a license that they could use.

To recall, this scheme was also confirmed by Wawao Builders General Manager Mark Allan Arevalo, who said in the previous hearing that his company’s contractor license was forcibly used in a scheme to corner infrastructure projects.

He also identified Santos as the one using Wawao’s license to participate in biddings, but also pointed to DPWH insiders as the driving force behind the arrangement. It was Senator Erwin Tulfo who floated the idea that contractors’ licenses are often rented out or controlled by “dummy” companies and even DPWH officials themselves, a practice the senator likened to “in-house construction.”

However, Mendoza and Hernandez denied the so-called condition that refusal to have their contractor license would prevent them from getting future contracts.

But Santos insisted that she would let them use her contract out of fear. She later claimed that Hernandez called her.

"Sally huwag kang mag-alala, lahat ng project na kinuha namin sa'yo gagawin namin yun. Ako bahala sa'yo, bibigyan kita ng abogado. Tutulungan kita (Sally, don’t worry — we’ll carry out all the projects we took from you. I’ll take care of you; I’ll provide you with a lawyer. I’ll help you)," Santos said, recalling the phone conversation.

"Kung pwede sana mayroon akong ipapakiusap sayo huwag ka muna sana magsalita...pwede ba makiusap ituro mo si DE Henry [Alcantara] dun ko binibigay sa kanya yung pera after po nun binibigay daw po yung pera ni DE Henry kay Usec. Bernardo and then kay Zaldy co (If possible, I have a favor to ask of you — please don’t speak for now… could you please, I’m asking, point to DE Henry [Alcantara]? I gave the money to him, and after that DE Henry allegedly gave the money to Usec. Bernardo and then to Zaldy Co)," she added.

She stated that Mendoza was with Alcantara during their phone call yet the date was unspecified since Santos was not able to present the call log. Hernandez and Mendoza, on the other hand, denied speaking to Santos or discussing the details of the conversation.

Project Engineer Arjay Domasig, who's also part of the BGC Boys” — not for Bonifacio Global City, but as the “Bulacan Group of Contractors, implicated Mendoza in the ghost flood control projects.

Ejercito then asked Mendoza if he knew about these ghost flood control projects in Bulacan, and replied that he had only found out about it on television.

Tulfo did not buy this answer, and asked him to explain why he should not be cited in contempt.

"Nakasama ka pati si Henry Alcantara, tinuturo ka, kasama ka dyan. At ngayon sasabihin mo sa'yo, wala kang alam, nalaman mo lang sa TV (You’re involved along with Henry Alcantara, you’re being pointed to, you’re part of this — and now you’re telling us you don’t know anything, that you only found out about it on TV?)," Tulfo said.

Mendoza explained that the projects are not exactly "ghost" but only a portion is left from the original budget after the cuts have been made.

But his explanation did not fly with Tulfo, who moved to cite him in contempt.