Eight high-ranking officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) pleaded not guilty on Thursday (Nov. 27, 2025) to graft charges involving alleged irregularities in a P289.5-million flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The arraignment took place before the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court in Quezon City.

The accused, all from the DPWH Mimaropa regional office, are charged with violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for allegedly giving unwarranted benefits to the contractor (Sunwest Corporation owned by former Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co) through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence in the awarding and implementation of the substandard dike project along the Mag-asawang Tubig River in Naujan town.

The officials who entered not guilty pleas were DPWH Region 4B Director Gerald Pacanan; Assistant Regional Directors Gene Ryan Altea and Ruben D.S. Santos; Construction Division Chief and Bids and Awards Committee Chairperson Dominic Serrano; Project Engineer III Felisardo Casuno; Accountant IV Lerma Cayco; Officer-in-Charge of the Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division and BAC regular member Dennis Abagon; and Officer-in-Charge of the Planning and Design Division Montrexis Tamayo.

Juliet Calvo, chief of the DPWH Region 4B Maintenance Division and the only official facing solely graft charges among the group, was absent from the proceedings after posting P90,000 bail on November 24. Her arraignment has been scheduled for December 2, 2025.

Six of the eight arraigned officials (Pacanan, Altea, Santos, Serrano, Casuno, and Cayco) were ordered detained without bail at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas.

Abagon and Tamayo are being held at the Camp Karingal detention facility.

Also charged in the same cases are Co and several executives of contractor Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, led by president Aderma Angelie Alcazar, who remain at large.

According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the 2021 project used substandard materials and was never completed, aggravating flood risks in Naujan.

The officials face separate non-bailable malversation through falsification charges before the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division, with arraignment also set for December 2, 2025.