THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the six-month preventive suspension of 16 employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, which was tagged as “notorious” for anomalous flood control projects.
Covered by the order issued by Acting Ombudsman Dante Vargas and effective September 18, 2025 were:
John Michael E. Ramos, chief, Construction Section
Ernesto C. Galang, chief, Planning and Design Section
Lorenzo A. Pagtalunan, OIC-chief, Maintenance Section
Norberto L. Santos, chief, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Section
Jaime R. Hernandez, OIC-chief, Maintenance Section
Floralyn Y. Simbulan, chief, Administrative Section
Roberto A. Roque, head, Budget Unit
Benedict J. Matawaran, head, Procurement Unit
Christina Mae D. Pineda, Cashier II
Paul Jayson F. Duya, project engineer
Merg Jaron C. Laus, project engineer
Lemuel Ephraim C. Roque, project engineer
Arjay S. Domasig, project engineer
John Carlo C. Rivera, project engineer
John Benex S. Francisco, project engineer
Jolo Mari V. Tayao, Project Engineer II
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the immediate implementation of the Ombudsman order.
On September 11, the DPWH and the Commission on Audit filed graft complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against 20 district engineers and four private contractors implicated in the anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan, including the above mentioned employees.
The others who were not covered by the Ombudsman suspension order have already been dismissed from the service.
Former Bulacan first assistant district engineers Brice Ericson Hernandez, and Construction Section chief Jaypee Mendoza earlier admitted hand in ghost projects in Bulacan, tagging their former boss, Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara, as the mastermind.
However, Domasig tagged Hernandez as the brains behind the ghost projects using a scheme where they rent out licenses of a qualified contractor in order to bag the project.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson earlier tagged the Bulacan first engineering district the most notorious for ghost, incomplete and substandard projects. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)