ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DPWH asks AMLC to freeze P500 M worth of cars, P5 B aircraft linked to flood control mess

DPWH asks AMLC to freeze P500 M worth of cars, P5 B aircraft linked to flood control mess

Published Sep 24, 2025 11:42 am  |  Updated Sep 24, 2025 03:28 pm

At A Glance

  • DPWH asks AMLC to freeze nearly P500M in luxury cars and P5B in aircraft linked to flood control graft.
  • Freeze targets 26 individuals, including engineers and contractors; some assets already surrendered.
  • Aircraft flagged include Gulfstream 350, AgustaWestland AW1398, Bell 407, and others.
  • Senate probe reveals alleged kickbacks and rigged project bidding; officials deny involvement.
  • DPWH issues show-cause orders to regional directors and district engineers over lavish lifestyles and substandard projects.
DPWH Secretary Manuel D. Dizon addresses the media during a press conference at the DPWH Head Office in Port Area, Manila on September 24, 2025, explaining the agency’s request to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (ALMC) to freeze nearly P500 million in luxury vehicles and P5 billion in aircraft linked to officials and contractors allegedly involved in ghost and substandard flood control projects. (Trixee Rosel/MANILA BULLETIN)
DPWH Secretary Manuel D. Dizon addresses the media during a press conference at the DPWH Head Office in Port Area, Manila on September 24, 2025, explaining the agency’s request to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (ALMC) to freeze nearly P500 million in luxury vehicles and P5 billion in aircraft linked to officials and contractors allegedly involved in ghost and substandard flood control projects. (Trixee Rosel/MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Wednesday, Sept. 24, asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze nearly P500 million in luxury vehicles and almost P5 billion in aircraft connected to officials and contractors allegedly involved in ghost and substandard flood control projects.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the move aims to trace ill-gotten wealth and hold accountable those implicated in the multi-billion peso corruption scheme.
He added that the agency has also submitted asset inventories to the Department of Justice and the Independent Commission on Infrastructure for further investigation.
The freeze covers P474,483,120 worth of motor vehicles registered to 26 individuals under investigation, including:
DPWH Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara
Dismissed DPWH assistant engineer Brice Hernandez
Dismissed DPWH assistant engineer Jaypee Mendoza
John Michael Ramos
Ernesto Galang
Lorenzo Alcoriza Pagtalunan
Norberto Santos
Jaime Hernandez
Floralyn Simbulan
Juanito Mendoza
Roberto Roque
Benedict Matawaran
Cristina Mae Del Rosario Pineda
Paul Jayson Fronda Duya
Merg Jaron Caparas Laus
Lemuel Ephraim San Diego Roque
Arjay Salvador Domasig
John Carlo Cayetano Rivera
John Benex Santos Francisco
Jolo Mari Villafuerte Tayao
Ma. Roma Angeline D. Rimando
Cezarah Rowena Cruz Discaya
Pacifico Discaya II
Mark Allan Villamor Arevalo
Sally Nicolas Santos
Robert Tecson Imperio
(Photo: DPWH)
(Photo: DPWH)
Hernandez has already surrendered one of his luxury vehicles to the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) to cooperate with authorities.
Air assets flagged by authorities include:
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., AgustaWestland AW1398 — est. value $16,000,000
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., AgustaWestland AW1398 — est. value $16,000,000
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., Gulfstream 350 — est. value $36,000,000
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., Bell 407 — est. value $3,000,000
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., Bell 407 — est. value $3,000,000
Misibis Aviation and Development Corp., Bell 206B3 — est. value $650,000
Total Misibis Aviation and Development Corp. — est. value $74,650,000
Hitone Construction Development Corp., Cessna 414A Chancellor — est. value $700,000
Hitone Construction Development Corp., Augusta A109E — est. value $6,900,000
Hitone Construction Development Corp., PA-31-350 Chieftain — est. value $340,000
Total Hitone Construction Development Corp. — est. value $7,940,000
QM Builder, Bell 505 — est. value $2,000,000
Total QM Builder — est. value $2,000,000
Other aircraft flagged include:
Bell 206B3
Bell 407
AgustaWestland AW1398
Gulfstream 350
Alcantara, in his sworn statement before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, admitted collaborating with Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo to distribute commissions from flood control projects to the camps of Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, former Senator Bong Revilla Jr., Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, and former Caloocan representative Mitch Cajayon.
The officials, however, denied any involvement in the alleged kickbacks.
Other whistleblowers during the Senate probe claimed government project bidding is often rigged, with winning contractors predetermined and “takers” coordinating with the Bids and Awards Committee or paying advances to lawmakers.
DPWH has also issued show-cause orders to several regional directors and district engineers for alleged lavish lifestyles, substandard projects, or failure to cooperate with investigations, including:
RD Gerard Opulencia, NCR, lavish lifestyle
RD Danilo Villa, Region VII, lavish lifestyle
Director Gerald Pacanan, former RD of IV-B, substandard projects
RD Khadaffy Tanggol, CAR, failure to cooperate with ongoing investigation
Brando Raya, ROWALD chief, Region VII, lavish lifestyle
De Isabelo Baleros, former DE of Las Piñas-Muntinlupa DEO, substandard projects
De Almer Miranda, Pampanga 1st DEO, substandard projects
De Gil B. Lorenzo, La Union DEO, substandard project
De Arturo L. Gonzales Jr., Quezon City 1st DEO, substandard project
De Johnny L. Protesta Jr., Quezon City 2nd DEO, substandard project
Dizon emphasized that the agency remains committed to transparency and accountability, reinforcing its ongoing efforts to investigate, freeze assets, and prosecute officials involved in fraudulent flood control projects.

Related Tags

DPWH Vince Dizon AMLC luxury vehicles aircraft freeze
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.