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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sandiganbayan hears bail petitions filed by accused in P289-M flood control project in Oriental Mindoro

Sandiganbayan hears bail petitions filed by accused in P289-M flood control project in Oriental Mindoro

Published Jan 26, 2026 03:36 pm
The Sandiganbayan’s sixth division started on Monday, Jan. 26, hearing the petitions for bail filed by nine accused in the P289.5 million “anomalous” flood control projects in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
They, together with resigned congressman Zaldy Co and other co-accused, were charged with non-bailable malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.
A separate graft case was filed against them and is now pending before the court’s fifth division. A graft case was filed against Co before the seventh division.
Being heard are the petitions filed by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region IV-B 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, material engineer Juliet Cabungan Calvo, accountant IV Lerma D. Cayco, officer-in-charge chief of quality assurance and hydrology division Dennis Pelo Abagon, and planning and design division officer-in-charge Montrexis Tamayo. are currently detained as the prosecution recommended no bail for their Malversation of Public Funds through Falsification of Public Documents charge. All of them are detained.
In opposing the bail petition, Ombudsman prosecutors presented as a witness Cecilia M. Vicquerra, the DPWH Region IV-B's chief of the Finance Division.
Vicquerra testified that all of the accused signed disbursement vouchers (DVs) that allowed Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation to receive payments despite the substandard work provided.
The accused tried to rebut Vicquerra’s testimony and questioned her if she personally saw all of the officials sign the DVs themselves.
While Vicquerra said she did not, she, however, answered that she knows all of their signatures by heart, given the number of times she has seen them.
The hearing was still ongoing as of posting time.
Aside from Co, who has been out of the country, the other accused who remain at large are material engineer Timojen Adiong Sacar, as well as Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation President Aderma Angelie D. Alcazar, treasurer Cesar X. Buenaventura, and board of directors Consuelo Dayto Aldon, Engineer Noel Yao Cao, and Anthony L. Ngo.
The criminal charges against them arose from the probe conducted by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon on the P289 million project for the construction of a road dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on Sept. 9, 2025 together with Gov. Bonz Dolor.
They said they discovered that the steel sheet piles used for the dike were grossly below the required standards, and there was an exposed pile length of 2.5 meters, and another 0.6 meter was embedded in the pile cap. All in all, there was a total of only three meters, which is far from the 12-meter specification stated in the Detailed Engineering Design, they added.
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