PACC Will Not Name Lawmakers Under Investigation For Alleged DPWH Corruption, Belgium Says

MANILA – The Commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), Greco Belgium, said on Saturday that the agency will not name the lawmakers investigated for alleged involvement in acts of corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), saying that this would “compromise” the investigation.

This, when the representative of the Anakalusugan Party list, Mike Defender, challenged him to reveal those involved after he previously discovered that some legislators were in cahoots with DPWH staff in alleged corrupt practices.

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“I don’t want to do things blindly or make a bulletin board or a bulletin board of our investigation because if I say who will be investigated before the investigation or who are the suspects, it is as if I told the detainee that they will arrest him and what to compromise the investigation, “Belgium said at a press conference.

(If I were to say who is being investigated before the investigation or who the suspects are, it is like telling the suspect that I will arrest him and that will compromise the investigation.)

Senators previously pointed to about P345.25 billion in a lump sum inserted into DPWH’s proposed 2021 budget, and lawmakers and department officials said they were asking for “kickbacks” from contractors who win agency projects.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who previously spoke about alleged corruption at DPWH, said he planned to create a separate task force to crack down on alleged corruption at the agency. Belgium said the National Investigation Office or the Office of the Ombudsman will conduct the investigation, citing the limitations of the PACC.

“Ang PACC is limited to people appointed by the president; it needs a different body like the NBI or the Ombudsman to carry out the investigation,” Belgium said, while saying the agency only limited itself to collecting information.

The president previously formed a task force to investigate alleged corruption at state health insurer PhilHealth, leading to recommendations to prosecute various former and current officials.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar previously created a task force of 5 officials to vet other executives and employees of the agency, which manages billions in public funds for major infrastructure projects. He had also promised to stop corruption in the agency.