Public works exec suspended

Another ranking official of the graft-ridden Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was suspended yesterday by Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo over P57 million in alleged unexplained wealth.

Josefino Rigor, director of DPWH-National Capital Region, was suspended for six months without pay for grave misconduct, dishonesty and falsification of public documents.

Ernesto Nocos, spokesman for the Office of the Ombudsman, said there was "sufficient basis" to impose sanctions on Rigor, since the evidence against him points strongly to guilt.

Based on the statement of assets and liabilities Rigor filed from 1999 to 2002, his legitimate income as a DPWH official during the 30 years from 1972 to 2002 totaled a measly P3.2 million. He allegedly concealed most of his properties and business ventures.

Ombudsman investigators also learned that Rigor and his family went abroad 64 times from 1993 to 2005.

"The undeclared properties of Rigor and the numerous foreign travels his family had cannot be substantiated by the income he received from his principal occupation," the indictment documents said.

Among the allegedly concealed real estate properties were 14 parcels of land in Victoria, Tarlac; eight more in San Roque and San Rafael towns, also in Tarlac; a parcel of land in Barrio Tibag, Tarlac; and a two-story commercial building in Sampaloc, Manila.

Rigor’s vehicles include a Toyota RAV4, which was registered under the name of his wife, and a Dodge RAM Road Trek.

His business interests include P600,000 worth of shares in Jetri Construction Corp., where his wife serves as one of the incorporators and treasurer; P1.1 million capital stock in Disneyland Bus Line and a separate P750,000 in capital stock under his wife’s name; and P2.5 million in capital stock and P100,000 paid-up capital in Kontrata Construction and Development Corp., where his wife subscribes P875,000 of the P2.5 million capital stock.

"The funding of these (investments) remains questionable considering that, based on available records, the only source of his (Rigor’s) income that is substantiated is the proceeds of his employment which is estimated at P3.2 million while his aggregate assets are valued at P60 million," Marcelo said.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane said Rigor will have to answer the charges but the DPWH will not conduct its own probe.

He also said Rigor’s real estate properties appear to be inherited. — With Mike Frialde