• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
As the investigating agency of the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation has conducted a probe into flood control projects in Negros Occidental.
William de Arca, executive officer of the NBI-Bacolod, yesterday disclosed that three of the six district engineering offices (DEO) of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Binalbagan, San Carlos and Kabankalan, have already complied with the submission of documents required from them, detailing the flood control projects implemented in their respective areas from 2020 to 2025.
De Arca further said that the three DEOs are cooperating in their investigations.
The documents submitted will be compared to those posted in the DPWH website, he added.
De Arca added that the heads of the Talisay, Bago and Bacolod District Engineering Offices will also appear at the NBI-Bacolod office next week.
“Our mandate requires us to examine flood control project documents to verify consistency with online records,” he pointed out.
Based on their initial investigations, de Arca said that 10 to 12 flood control projects were reported to have been implemented annually.
Following document collection, the NBI will conduct site inspections to validate project implementation, he added.
After gathering evidence, they will submit it to the DOJ for endorsement to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
The ICI has been tasked to investigate flood control corruption within the last 10 years in the country.*
