00:00Formal charges have been filed against several officials of the DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office
00:07and executives of St. Timothy Construction Corporation regarding an anomalous flood control project.
00:15The accused face one count of violation of Section 3E of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices
00:25Act,
00:25and one count of malversation of public funds or property through falsification of public documents under the Revised Penal Code.
00:35These charges are specifically linked to DPWH Contract ID No. 22CC-0058,
00:44which involved the rehabilitation of river construction structure along Bulusan, Kalumpit, Bulacan.
00:51The findings of the Office of the Ombudsman revealed an utter and flagrant disregard for government auditing and accounting regulations.
01:01Specifically, investigators discovered that payments for the project's first billing were released despite an unapproved disbursement voucher.
01:12Furthermore, full payments for dredging and embankment items were made without any basis for computation
01:20or the necessary supporting documents required to prove project accomplishment.
01:25These collective actions resulted in an unwarranted benefit to St. Timothy Construction Corporation
01:32totaling approximately P53 million, causing significant financial injury to the government.
01:40The investigation further established that the accused officials allowed the contractor to take possession of
01:47and misappropriate these funds, which constitutes the illegal act of malversation of public funds.
01:54It was also noted that the beneficial owners of St. Timothy Construction Corporation are the accused spouses,
02:02Cesara Rowena C. Diskaya and Pacifico F. Diskaya II, as well as Maria Roma Angeline D. Remando, the company's managing
02:13officer.
02:14While eight DPWH officials and three construction executives have been named as the accused,
02:22Henry Alcantara, former district engineer, and Paul J. Sunduya, the project engineer,
02:26were excluded from the criminal information following immunity agreements with the office of the Ombudsman.
02:33Moving forward, this case has been filed in the regional trial court as it involves criminal violations of the revised
02:40penal code
02:41and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, where the salary grade of the public officials involved
02:47or the nature of the offenses in relation to their office falls within the jurisdiction of the regional trial courts
02:54under Philippine law.
02:56Following the filing, the recommended bail for the violation of Section 3E of RA 3019
03:02has been set for P90,000 for each of the accused, while notably, no bail has been recommended for the
03:10complex crime
03:10of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.
03:15The prosecution will now proceed to the trial phase where evidence will be presented
03:20to hold the individuals accountable for the misappropriation of public resources intended for vital community infrastructure.
03:28Maraming salamat po.
03:32Maraming salamat po.
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