NBI to serve subpoenas to DPWH Davao chief, 3 firms on Monday

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is set to serve subpoenas to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Davao Regional Director Juby Cordon and three construction firms on Monday, according to Director Melvin Matibag.

This came after the bureau flagged 47 flood control projects in Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte’s district.

Matibag earlier named the construction firms as Genesis88 Construction, Inc.—which he said secured P1.9 billion worth of flood control projects in Duterte’s district—Gemma Construction, and Agong Construction.

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READ: NBI sees ‘red flags’ in 47 flood control projects in Paolo Duterte’s district

“Ise-serve [yung subpoenas] today,” Matibag said in a Viber message to the Inquirer on Monday.

(The subpoenas will be served today.)

Last week, the NBI released a copy of the subpoena for Cordon dated Sept. 17, noting that the Davao regional director is expected to appear before the NBI’s office in Pasay City on Thursday, Sept. 24.

The bureau has not yet released the copies of the subpoenas for the construction firms.

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In last week’s interview, Matibag said that based on the documents from the DPWH, they discovered some “red flags” in 47 of 100 flood control projects in Duterte’s district.

“Merong ghost (project), may substandard, merong isang coordinate lang with five budgets na iba-iba lang yung title,” Matibag earlier said.

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(There is a ghost (project), there is a substandard, and there is only one coordinate with five budgets with different titles.)

He meanwhile noted that about six projects had clear problems so far.

The NBI director also initially said they would start issuing subpoenas to 51 individuals, but later clarified that the bureau would first subpoena the regional director and three construction companies to shed light on the investigation.

Following Duterte’s remarks, Rep. Duterte earlier said in a statement that while he welcomed the investigation into the flood control projects in his district, there must not be a “selective investigation.”

READ: NBI probes P1.9B Davao flood control projects given to just 1 contractor

The congressman questioned whether the NBI would investigate flood control projects in the district of Matibag’s wife, Laguna 1st District Rep. Ann Matibag.

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Matibag then responded in a separate interview, saying that if Duterte has any evidence on the flood control projects in his wife’s district, “he is free to file a case so that we can investigate it properly.”/coa