NEWLY installed Public Works Secretary Victor Domingo has announced a team to investigate allegations of graft and improper conduct of district engineer Teodore Castillo.

The team is composed of legal experts from the national office and is set to go to Guimaras engineering district within this week for investigation, including the engineer's frequent cockpit sessions.

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Castillo would be placed under preventive suspension if the team finds him guilty and once the Ombudsman officially files a case against him, Domingo informed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Director Rolando Asis here.

A group of residents in Guimaras recently exposed Castillo and his alleged cockpit sessions.

The group has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to immediately suspend and conduct a lifestyle check on Castillo, whom they accused of allegedly amassing properties while in office.

In a petition, the group asked Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to suspend Castillo over allegations of graft and in acquiring properties and new cars, which he cannot afford with his salary as a district engineer.

The petitioners, however, did not specify the properties, which Castillo allegedly acquired while in office, as not to jeopardize the investigation that may be conducted by the Ombudsman and DPWH.

Domingo reiterated that nobody is above the law. It is good that the people filed a complaint as we are trying to graduate from the group of corrupt agencies, he said. (LCP)