The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has secured approval from the Court of Appeals to freeze the bank accounts and insurance policies of 20 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and six private contractors.
According to the AMLC, the petition to freeze the assets was granted to aid in the recovery of public funds allegedly misused in infrastructure projects.
DPWH Secretary Vivencio Dizon stressed that dismissal alone will not suffice, vowing to pursue cases against those responsible. “This is just the beginning. We expect more asset freeze requests in the coming weeks and months. Dismissal is not enough. We will not stop at filing cases and throwing them behind bars. The order of the President is that we need to get back the people’s money,” Dizon said.
DPWH officials with frozen accounts
The freeze order covers the assets of the following officials:
- Former OIC-assistant regional director Henry Alcantara
- Former OIC-district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez
- Former OIC-assistant district engineer Jaypee Mendoza
- John Michael Ramos, chief of the Construction Section
- Ernesto Galang, Planning and Design Section
- Lorenzo Pagtalunan, OIC-chief of the Maintenance Section
- Norberto Santos, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Section
- Jaime Hernandez, Maintenance Section
Private contractors named in the freeze order
The following contractors also had their bank accounts and insurance policies frozen:
- Ma. Roma Angeline Rimando, Cezarah Rowena Discaya, and Pacifico Discaya II of St. Timothy Construction Corporation
- Mark Allan Arevalo, general manager of Wawao Builders
- Sally Santos, owner-manager of SYMS Construction Trading
- Robert Imperio, owner-manager of IM Construction Corporation
The AMLC noted that this is only the first wave of asset freeze petitions, with more expected in the coming weeks as investigations continue.
