Eight officials implicated in the alleged flood control anomaly in Oriental Mindoro pleaded “not guilty” to graft charges during their arraignment before the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division.
Those who entered their pleas were:
• Gerald Pacanan, DPWH Regional Director
• Gene Ryan Altea, DPWH Assistant Regional Director
• Ruben D.S. Santos, DPWH Assistant Regional Director
• Dominic Serrano, DPWH Construction Division Chief and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairperson
• Felisardo Casuno, DPWH Project Engineer III
• Lerma Cayco, DPWH Accountant IV
• Dennis Abagon, Officer-in-Charge of the Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division and BAC regular member
• Engineer Montrexis Tamayo, OIC of DPWH-Mimaropa’s Planning and Design Division
DPWH Chief Maintenance Division officer Juliet Calvo failed to appear and will be arraigned on December 2.
The court scheduled pre-conference hearings for the graft case on January 9, 19, and 26, as well as February 5, 12, 19, and 26 in 2026.
Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division set the arraignment of the same group for a separate malversation case on December 2.
