VARIOUS jails will soon have ‘illustrious’ denizens as the suspects in the massive graft and corruption that were allegedly committed in the implementation of flood-control projects are expected to be detained soon.
President Marcos on Thursday said there will be no Merry Christmas for some of those charged for their alleged involvement in flood-control project corruption and they are expected to be detained in the next few weeks.
In a news conference in Malacañang, the Chief Executive said the Ombudsman is expected to issue resolutions on some of the filed cases before the end of the year.
‘Before Christmas, many of these people named here I think will be in what. Their cases will be over, the cases will be complete [filed in court]. They will be locked up. They won’t have a Merry Christmas. Before Christmas, they will be locked up,’ he said in Filipino after presenting slides containing the names of accused of being involved in flood control anomalies.
The slide included the names of the 37 individuals, including lawmakers, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and contractors, who are part of the first batch of case referrals to the Ombudsman.
The list included the names of Sens. Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, former representative Zaldy Co, former Caloocan Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy, Commission on Audit Commissioner Mario Lipana, former DPWH Secretary Manual Bonoan, former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, and former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.
They are facing criminal charges for graft and corruption, malversation, falsification, and plunder, as well as administrative charges for public officers.
Marcos made the assurance amid growing public pressure for the government to hold accountable the people linked to public works irregularities.
He explained it took the government some time to file the charges to make sure these will be airtight and not dismissed by the Ombudsman.
‘You know, we all want justice to be served quickly. But if we’ve learned anything from the past, it’s that it’s better to be careful and take a little longer than to rush and make mistakes,’ Marcos said.
‘With every second we give to the investigation, we make sure that every case filed against the abusers has sufficient evidence and will not lead to the dismissal of the case,’ he added.