The complaint citing alleged plunder resulting from “irregular, sub-standard construction projects” in Candaba town was fi led by Jerry Pelayo, himself a former three-term mayor of the town, and one Daniel Gallardo.
Aside from the named respondents, included in the complaint were DPWH department heads and officers of private contractors EddMari Construction, Ferdstar and Northern Builders.
“There were several irregular, substandard construction projects in Candaba, all with the full knowledge and consent of Congressman Bondoc and former Mayor Maglanque,” the complaint alleged.
In a press briefing at the Max’s Restaurant here Monday, Pelayo said a number of the projects have “shown signs of substandard construction while others remain not fully constructed,” as he presented what he called “photographic evidence” of his allegations.
“Bondoc cannot feign innocence of irregularities in the implementation of the projects as his self-glorifying tarpaulins are posted in the project sites and on the equipment,” Pelayo said.
According to the complaint, from 2013 to 2016, several projects amounting to billions of pesos, were bid out even after the imposition of the election ban and were allegedly utilized to fund the campaign of the Liberal Party.
Pelayo identified some of these projects as the P100-million Malisic River Project, the Maasim Dam/River Project, Candaba-San Miguel Road Widening Project, Arayat-Apalit Setback Levee, Pulong Plaza-Barit Road, Bomba Bridge, Mandasig Revetment and Candaba-Baliuag Road.
“These are all useless, worthless projects, whose only objective in its construction is to milk money out of public funds,” the complaint said, further alleging that the projects were all awarded by the DPWH regional office to a single construction firm – EddMari, allegedly owned by one Edgardo Sagum–a few days before the election ban.
“To date, no project has been completed by the firm,” said Pelayo.
The complaint also alleged that both Bondoc and Maglanque persuaded the Department of Budget and Management to release P700 million to the DPWH regional office for the awarding of the infrastructure projects before the election ban through alleged “influence peddling.”
Pelayo invoked “the example of good governance personified by President Duterte” as his motivation in “in looking into the truth behind government projects in Candaba.”
This, even as he called on Bondoc to go with him on a public inspection of the projects cited in the complaint to “affirm the truth” of his allegations.
