The Department of Justice has broadened its preliminary investigation into alleged ghost flood control projects in Bulacan, adding former Senator Bong Revilla and former Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co as respondents after new evidence identified them as supposed budget proponents.
Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said three of the five cases have been submitted for resolution, while the remaining two were delayed due to the inclusion of new individuals.
“Initially, those who were charged in those two cases only involved DPWH officials but eventually there were pieces of evidence that were submitted by the National Bureau of Investigation and this time it included proponents,” he explained. He later confirmed the proponents were Revilla and Co.
The cases center on SYMS Construction Trading, which admitted during congressional hearings that it lent its contractor’s license to officials of the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office, allegedly enabling the ghost projects.
DOJ Spokesperson Polo Martinez added that both Revilla and Co are also respondents in separate NBI complaints involving Wawao Builders and Topnotch Catalyst Builders, although these are still under initial evaluation.
Revilla has been granted a five-day extension to file his counter-affidavit. His inclusion comes days after the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) recommended plunder, bribery, and administrative charges against him and nine others, based on testimony alleging kickbacks. Revilla has denied the accusations and questioned the ICI process.
Co, meanwhile, is already facing graft and malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan over a separate anomalous project in Oriental Mindoro. The court has ordered his arrest along with 17 others. Currently abroad, Co has denied wrongdoing and issued broad accusations implicating even President Bongbong Marcos — claims the President has denied.
The DOJ’s expanded probe signals a widening accountability trail in the alleged multibillion-peso infrastructure scam.