(UPDATE) THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Wednesday asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against some of its officials and contractors involved in ghost and anomalous flood control projects.

The request issued by newly appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon covers 26 DPWH officials and private individuals including spouses Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and Pacifico Discaya of Alpha & Omega General Contractor and Development Corp. people involved in the ongoing investigation being conducted by both houses of Congress and the soon-to-be created independent commission would be available for questioning.

“The timely issuance of an ILBO is of utmost necessity to enable the current investigators to proceed without delay and to hold those liable accountable to the Filipino people,” said Dizon in his letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla., This news data comes from:http://grkuvm.xs888999.com

Remulla acknowledged the urgency of the request and said the DOJ will mobilize the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate irregularities in government flood control projects. No one implicated would be spared, he added.

“The tendency of these people will be to flee,” Remulla said in Filipino. “At the earliest opportunity, they will try to flee.”

DPWH seeks lookout bulletin vs officials, contractors in ghost projects

He added that the NBI will form a dedicated group to back up DOJ prosecutors in investigating the flood control projects. “We want the NBI to be mobilized for the investigation,” he said. “The DOJ will push all cases forward. No one will be spared.”

Aside from the Discaya couple, the 24 others included in the lookout bulletin request were OIC-Assistant Regional Director Henry Alcantara; OIC-District Engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez; OIC-Assistant District Engineer Jaypee Mendoza; engineer Ernesto Galang, Planning Design Section; engineer John Michael Ramos, Construction Section; engineer Norberto Santos, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Section; engineer Jaime Hernandez, Maintenance Section; Floraly Simbula, Administrative Section; Juanito Mendoza, Finance Section; engineer Benedict Matawaran, Procurement Unit; Alex Abelido, president, Legacy Construction Corp.; Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando, owner/manager, St. Timothy Construction Corp.; Allan Quirante, owner/proprietor, QM Builders; Erni Baggao, owner/proprietor, EGB Construction Corp.; Eumir Villanueva, president, top-notch Catalyst Builders Inc.; Lawrence Lubiano, president, Centerways Construction and Development Inc.; Aderma Angelie Alcazar, president/CEO, Sunwest Inc.; Edgar Acosta, president, Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corp.; Wilfredo Natividad, owner/general manager, Triple 8 Construction & Supplies Corp.; Mark Allan Arevalo, general manager, Wawao Builders; Marjorie Samidan, authorized managing officer, MG Samidan Construction; Luisito Tiqui, president, L.R. Tiqui Builders Inc.; and Ryan Willie Uy, proprietor, Road Edge TRading & Development Services.

The ILBO is an order issued by the DOJ instructing immigration officers to closely monitor the travel of subject individuals. It does not prevent them from leaving the country.

DPWH seeks lookout bulletin vs officials, contractors in ghost projects

Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said immigration officers are instructed to promptly relay to the DOJ and the DPWH any pertinent information regarding the travel, and to check if there are freshly issued orders against the subjects.

The order is accessible by all immigration officers nationwide, in all airports and seaports, Viado said.

More raids

Also on Wednesday, the Bureau of Customs said it would run after more contractors involved in anomalous multibillion-peso flood control projects, one day after it raided the property of the Discayas to determine if proper taxes and duties were paid for their fleet of luxury cars.

“We won’t stop there. We are just starting, more [operations] will come,” said Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno. “We will also run after other contractors.”

Nepomuceno said the move was in line with the recent directive of the President to conduct a lifestyle check on DPWH officials and contractors who were flaunting their wealth, which include luxurious cars, and even private planes and helicopters.

Nepomuceno said the axe fell first on the Discayas after they showed on social media their fleet of luxury cars, and even admitted that they became super rich as an accredited contractor of the DPWH.

Nepomuceno pointed out that they were not yet done with the Discaya spouses because the couple earlier claimed that they had 28 luxury vehicles, thus they will search for the other 14 missing luxury cars or even more.

During Monday’s raid on the Discaya property, customs agents were able to recover only two, a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 and a Maserati Levante Modena 2022, out of the 12 vehicles specified on the search warrant issued by the regional trial court.

In addition, the team also found two other luxury vehicles not covered by the warrant, a Jaguar F-Pace and a Bulletproof Cadillac Escalade.

The missing 10 luxury cars covered by the warrant were recovered Monday night.

The Discaya family owns Alpha & Omega General Contractor and Development Corp., St. Gerrard Construction and Development Corp. and seven other construction companies.

Alpha & Omega is among the top 15 construction companies that cornered a large chunk of the flood control and other infrastructure projects around the country that were implemented by the DPWH from 2022 to 2025 under the Marcos administration.

Nepomuceno said any irregularity in the importation of luxury vehicles, such as misdeclaration or nonpayment of duties and taxes, will be subject to enforcement actions under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Under the law, all imported vehicles whether brand-new or used, purchased or donated are subject to 40-percent customs duty, 10-percent value-added tax and ad valorem tax from 15 percent to 100 percent depending on its piston displacement.

No escape from jail time

Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said corrupt government officials and contractors should be charged with non-bailable offenses to ensure that they do not escape jail time.

“These people have dirty money. The bail bond is just a small change for them,” Zubiri said in Filipino and English on Wednesday.

“That’s why we must ensure we file non-bailable charges against them. Let them rot in jail,” the senator said in a statement.

He also sought to expand the investigation on ghost projects to include rock netting, dredging, cats eye, solar lamps, multipurpose buildings and roads — some of which he said are useless.

“We’re only investigating [anomalous] flood control [projects]. And I’m sure there are many anomalies in other infrastructure projects,” Zubiri said.

If investigations reveal forgery, they should also be charged with falsification of public documents, under the Revised Penal Code, he said.

“I have brought this up to Sen. [Panfilo] Lacson, and he agreed and added that these individuals have to be charged with predicate crimes that penalize them with reclusion perpetua. This is the least that they deserve for pocketing taxpayers’ money,” Zubiri said.

In a privilege speech in August, Lacson detailed a network of corruption in flood control projects involving some DPWH officials and private contractors.