The Office of the Ombudsman filed malversation and graft charges against fugitive former Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and several former Department of Public Works and Highways officials over an alleged P77.2 million ghost flood control project in Balagtas, Bulacan.
The charges stem from the alleged non-construction of a riverbank protection structure along the Balagtas River in Purok 4, Barangay San Juan, according to official documents. The contract went to SYMS Construction Trading.
“The project supposedly started last February 24, 2025, and was declared to be 100% accomplished on May 2, 2025. However, upon inspection, it was non-existent,” the resolution read.
The Ombudsman asserted that Co received kickbacks from contractors to ensure “inserted” projects in the National Expenditure Program would be approved through the General Appropriations Act.
“Co’s participation was therefore necessary or indispensable in this elaborate scheme of embezzling funds intended for flood control projects,” the resolution stated.
The Ombudsman also indicted former DPWH officials Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, Arjay Domasig, Jaypee Mendoza, Niño Morales, Juanito Mendoza, Floralyn Simbulan, and Christina Piñeda, as well as Co’s staff members John Paul Estrada and Mark Tecsay.
The Ombudsman questioned repeated payments to SYMS Construction Trading despite alleged irregularities in payment certificates and work accomplishment statements for the project.
“[These] are strong indications of their participation in the devious schemes of misappropriating the funds for flood control projects,” the ruling stated.
“The modus did not end after the delivery of the advance payment to Co. The project was eventually awarded to SYMS, which was owned by Santos. However, which is apparent in the scheme used by the respondents, there was no intention to actually complete the project,” it added.
The Ombudsman said officials responsible for reviewing, inspecting and certifying the project repeatedly failed to exercise the diligence required of public officials. The agency said these failures could not be written off as common mistakes or isolated errors.
“Here, respondents acted with evident bad faith and/or gross inexcusable negligence when they issued the pertinent documents and certifications that led to the diversion of public funds… for a project that turned out to be non-existent or incomplete. The repeated failure to exercise due diligence is very telling,” the resolution stated.
The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division, led by Associate Justice Michael Musngi, will handle the malversation case. The Fifth Division, under Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, will hear the graft case.
The Ombudsman also sent Sally Santos’ perjury complaint back to the Department of Justice. Co faces additional malversation and graft charges over an allegedly irregular road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
