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Three instances for graft, malversation, and falsification at the moment are pending with the Quezon Metropolis Regional Trial Courtroom in opposition to former DPWH officers as a result of flood management mess
MANILA, Philippines – The Division of Justice (DOJ) has filed a number of instances in opposition to former Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officers, together with former engineers Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, over the flood management mess.
In keeping with the DOJ, the next instances at the moment are pending with a number of Quezon Metropolis Regional Trial Courtroom (RTC) branches:
- Quezon Metropolis RTC Department 79
- Contractor: SYMS Buying and selling
- Prices: Part 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Malversation below Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), and Falsification by Public Officer below Article 171 of the RPC
- Accused: Brice Ericson Hernandez, Arjay Domasig, Jaypee Mendoza, Nino Lawrence Morales, Juanito Mendoza, Floralyn Simbulan, and Christina Mae Pineda
- Date filed: January 30, 2026
- Standing: The accused had been arraigned on March 5, and the pre-trial listening to is scheduled on April 13.
- Quezon Metropolis RTC Department 79
- Contractor: SYMS Buying and selling
- Prices: Part 3(e) of RA No. 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Malversation below Article 217 of the RPC, and Falsification by Public Officer below Article 171 of the RPC
- Accused: Hernandez, Domasig, Jaypee Mendoza, Morales, Juanito Mendoza, Simbulan, and Pineda
- Date filed: February 9, 2026
- Standing: The accused had been arraigned on March 15, and the pre-trial listening to is scheduled on April 13.
- Quezon Metropolis RTC Department 8
- Contractor: SYMS Buying and selling
- Prices: Part 3(e) of RA No. 3019, Malversation below Article 217, and Falsification by Public Officer below Article 183
- Accused: Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Lemuel Ephraim Roque, Morales, Juanito Mendoza, Simbulan, Pineda, Ernesto Galang, Roberto Roque, John Michael Ramos, Norberto Santos, Irene Ontingco, Jaime Hernandez, Elcid Pangilinan, Nestor Caoile, Alberto Angelico Ignacio, Benedicto Vertudazo, Honiel De Guzman, and Nilo Hernandez
- Date filed: February 13, 2026
- Standing: The accused had been arraigned on March 11.
Former district engineer Henry Alcantara and SYMS contractor Sally Santos, in the meantime, had been eliminated as respondents to the stated instances as a result of they grew to become state witnesses. Aside from safety, state witnesses like the 2 additionally take pleasure in immunity from instances.
DOJ spokesperson prosecutor Rafael Martinez instructed reporters that the three instances had been filed with Bulacan courts. Nonetheless, they had been later transferred to Quezon Metropolis RTCs, which had been designated as particular courts for flood management corruption instances.
Corruption instances are sometimes filed with the anti-graft court docket Sandiganbayan, however RTCs may additionally deal with such instances in sure circumstances.
Beneath RA No. 10660, RTCs have jurisdiction over graft instances that don’t point out harm to the federal government or when the quantity of injury shouldn’t be greater than P1 million. Additionally, graft instances in opposition to public officers with wage grades decrease than Wage Grade 27 belong to the decrease courts, primarily based on Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 or the Judiciary Reorganization Act.
The instances in opposition to Hernandez, Mendoza, and others are the newest flood management fees to have reached the courts. Flood management instances now pending with tribunals embrace the instances of former Ako Bicol consultant Zaldy Co filed final November, the instances in opposition to contractor Sarah Discaya and DPWH officers filed final December, and former senator Bong Revilla’s flood management instances filed final January.
Hernandez and Mendoza have been detained on the Quezon Metropolis Jail in Payatas since January, as they’re additionally accused in Revilla’s malversation case pending with the Sandiganbayan. Malversation, in contrast to graft, is non-bailable.
DPWH engineers and their function
Alcantara and his former subordinates at DPWH Bulacan had been among the many greatest personalities within the flood management corruption that rocked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration. As district engineers, they’d been accused of allegedly utilizing their positions to get shares of billions of flood management funds.
Throughout a sequence of legislative hearings on the Senate and Home of Representatives, the previous engineers revealed a few of the schemes behind the alleged corruption and dropped the names of politicians allegedly concerned within the mess.
For one, Alcantara confirmed in his sworn affidavit how insertions had been made within the nationwide budgets for 2022 to 2025. He stated kickbacks had been by the DPWH workplaces in Bulacan (1st and 2nd districts), Tarlac (1st and 2nd districts), and Pampanga third District. He additionally named some officers, equivalent to Revilla and incumbent senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, amongst others, as alleged beneficiaries of the DPWH kickbacks.
The previous district engineer additionally confirmed earlier than the Senate blue ribbon committee that he had allegedly delivered kickbacks for Co at his residence in Pasig and at a lodge parking space in Taguig.
Hernandez earlier alleged that Villanueva and Estrada acquired kickbacks. His former boss, Alcantara, additionally corroborated this testimony.
The testimony of Santos, a contractor, can be important to the prosecution’s case as a result of she confirmed that the DPWH tasks that went to her agency had been truly in-house tasks of engineers, including that she solely lent her license for these tasks. – Rappler.com
