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MMDA Chairman Don Artes, joined by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon and Las Piñas LGU officials, leads an on-site inspection of the “Bayanihan sa Estero” clean-up at Tartar Creek in Barangay Pamplona Tres and Talon Dos, Las Piñas City on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — It would be “impossible” for Sunwest, a construction firm linked to former congressman Zaldy Co, to rectify the alleged substandard road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon said on Wednesday.
During the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s graft trial against Co and former DPWH-Mimaropa officials, Dizon testified that the P289-million project has three-meter steel sheet piles installed, instead of 12 meters.
He explained that under normal circumstances, defects should be corrected. But he said the road dike project is not a normal circumstance.
“Hindi siya normal circumstance kasi may allegations nga na of irregularities doon sa proyektong ‘yun,” Dizon said in an ambush interview after the hearing.
“Imposible talaga [ma-rectify] kasi para palitan nila lahat ng sheet piles na three meters at gawing 12 [meters], gigibain ‘yung buong structure na nagawa nila,” he noted.
Asked if the project is still under the contractor’s insurance, the DPWH chief said no insurance company will pay if the project is fraudulent.
'BINABOY NILA'
Dizon discovered the defect after they inspected the project in September last year.
“Ako mismo nung pagdating ko du’n, nakita ko mismo may mga area du’n na gumuho na; Isang ulan pa lang, gumuho na,” he said. “Obvious na obvious na talagang binaboy nila ‘yung proyektong ‘to, na sinadya nilang gawing three meters ‘yung dapat 12 meters na pundasyon.”
Dizon also testified that he has no information when the steel sheet piles were delivered nor when it was driven to the ground.
He recalled that after getting a clearance from the department, the provincial government excavated the project in preparation for the inspection.
The chief noted that he did not make a formal written report after the inspection but he instructed former DPWH-Mimaropa officer-in-charge regional director Editha Babaran to prepare a report.
After discovering the supposed defects, the DPWH asked its Legal Service Division to start a buildup of information for the filing of cases against those liable to return the public’s money.
State witness and former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo is set to make a testimony in the next trial on Oct. 7.
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