Because of recent developments, an hour-long fire at one of the office buildings of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Quezon City yesterday raised concerns about the possible destruction of evidence in the corruption scandal now engulfing the DPWH.
The fire hit the building of the DPWH Bureau of Research and Standards. This is where the DPWH conducts research, material testing and policy development for public infrastructure projects.
A statement released by the DPWH assured the public that no documents related to the flood control scandal were damaged in the fire, which was reportedly set off by a computer that exploded at the Material Testing Division.
But controversy, it seems, is never far from DPWH offices. Independent Commission for Infrastructure chairman Andres Reyes disclosed that the material testing office collects at least one percent in kickbacks per infrastructure project tested. This is according to the testimony before the ICI of sacked DPWH assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez, Reyes told senators.
There were initial reports that the office serves as the testing site for the DPWH Region IV-B, which covers the Mindoro provinces. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who will soon be returning as chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee, had unearthed ghost and substandard flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro. But the DPWH clarified that the testing office covers another region.
The details on the fire-hit office nevertheless prompted Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla to seek a deeper probe, to be undertaken by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Perhaps the fire was truly an accident and not a case of arson. But it should still serve as a warning about the possibility of evidence being destroyed in an agency where the magnitude of the corruption being uncovered has led to calls for its abolition.
Records and documents can disappear or be tampered with, as probes are expanded to include the other infrastructure projects undertaken by the DPWH. Public fears are not entirely baseless that there are too many DPWH employees with a criminal mind. The fire should bring urgency to the task of securing all records of the DPWH.