CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES — Less than three months after the National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas Regional Office (NBI-CEVRO) launched a separate investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding government-funded flood control projects in the region, the agency has made significant progress in its inquiry.
NBI-CEVRO Regional Director Renan Augustos Oliva has confirmed that their office has submitted initial findings on numerous cases of flood control irregularities to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
It is worth noting that the NBI is one of the government agencies that participated in the special task force established by the DOJ in September of this year. This task force was created to investigate and consolidate reports related to flood control projects from various regional offices.
In Central Visayas, Oliva said several cases have already been recommended to the DOJ, adding that the agency is just waiting for the resolution containing the results of the evaluation and preliminary investigation conducted by the justice department.
“Sa atong area sa Region 7, we have already recommended certain cases to the department for evaluation and preliminary investigation,” Oliva said in an interview earlier this week.
Although Oliva refused to mention any specific locations where the anomalous flood control projects are located, he stated that there are “many” of them in provinces, cities, and towns within the region.
“Daghan sa atong area nga (adunay) flood control projects…Di’ lang usa ko mosulti where. Huwaton lang nato. Di’ lang nako unhan ang findings sa Department of Justice, but we already submitted our recommendations,” he said, urging to wait for the official findings from the DOJ itself.
According to Oliva, the NBI-CEVRO’s investigation was conducted to develop airtight cases in accordance with the directives of DOJ Acting Secretary Fredderick Vida and NBI Director Angelito Magno.
He also explained that the delay in the investigation was due to the meticulous process of building airtight cases with strong evidence, which he also highlighted as the basis for having certain reasonable ground for conviction.
The regional director also shared that part of the process was collating documentary, testimonial, and technical evidence before these cases were recommended to the DOJ. This evidence was obtained from those who were involved in the flood control issue, including those behind the ghost and sub-standard projects.
Oliva acknowledged that the NBI-CEVRO investigation faced challenges due to the large number of flood control projects in the region. To effectively develop strong cases for each alleged project, these investigations were assigned to individual agents for focused attention.
Once the solid cases were established, Oliva stated that they were submitted to the NBI’s legal division in Manila, which then forwarded them to the DOJ.
Meanwhile, the NBI-CEVRO is waiting for the resolution to determine the recommendations of the DOJ regarding the reviewed flood control projects.
According to Oliva, the DOJ may return the documents to ask for additional evidence. However, if the evidence is already enough, the next step is to file a lawsuit before the Office of the Ombudsman.
“If sufficient na after their evaluation, i-file na na ngadto sa Office of the Ombudsman,” he added, mentioning that the filing of the case will be done by the DOJ Task Force.
Additionally, Oliva stated that once the relevant cases are filed, a public announcement will be made to inform the public about the individuals and entities involved in the irregularities.
When asked if the investigation had been completed, Oliva noted that there are still more suspected flood control projects that need to be examined, emphasizing that the recent recommendations were only a part of their initial investigation..
“No, initial pa to. Katung among gi-recommend initial pa to. We have many more (flood control) projects to investigate,” he said.
| Written by Nicholas Jon Malaga
