Discayas, ex-DPWH officials now 'protected witnesses'
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Wednesday that individuals implicated in anomalous flood control projects are now considered protected witnesses.
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, September 24, Remulla said former district engineers Brice Hernandez, Henry Alcantara and Jaypee Mendoza, along with contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya, have been placed under protective witness status.
“Pwede na silang protected witness,” Remulla said. (They can be considered as protected witnesses.)
He clarified, however, that they are not state witnesses. Declaring them as such, he noted, would free them from criminal liability.
“Regarding state witness status, we're very careful about that. It takes a lot of doing to declare a person as a state witness because you’re freeing them from criminal liability,” he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hernandez and several others went to the Department of Justice to apply for evaluation of their eligibility for the Witness Protection Program. Alcantara underwent a similar evaluation Tuesday after he implicated several lawmakers in alleged kickbacks from flood control funds.
Remulla also disclosed Tuesday that the Anti-Money Laundering Council has frozen the bank accounts of implicated lawmakers and engineers.
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