Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the preventive suspension and filing of administrative charges against Baguio City District Engineer Rene Zarate for allegedly tampering with project records and refusing to submit documents to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
In a two-page directive dated Sept. 22, Dizon placed Zarate under a 90-day preventive suspension following reports of possible alteration of records related to flood control and other projects under the Baguio City District Engineering Office (BCDEO).
Zarate was charged with gross neglect of duty, gross insubordination, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and violation of the 2025 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RACCS).
The order said a prima facie case was established and directed Zarate to answer the charges within three days or risk forfeiting his right to respond, with the case to be decided on available records.
The complaint stemmed from Zarate’s refusal to comply with Dizon’s Sept. 18 memorandum requiring all DPWH central, regional, and district offices to submit project records to the ICI, a body created by President Marcos Jr. to investigate flood control projects implemented over the past decade.
Dizon warned that officials who defy the directive will face suspension and penalties, stressing that full cooperation with the commission is mandatory.
The ICI, in a separate statement, condemned what it described as “widespread destruction and tampering” of DPWH records, warning that such acts may carry both administrative and criminal liability.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who serves as special adviser and investigator for the commission, earlier filed multiple graft complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against BCDEO officials, including Zarate.
One complaint, filed in February 2023, concerned the P88-million bridge project linking Parapad Village in Barangay North Sanitary Camp to Magsaysay Avenue.
Although completed in 2019, the bridge was left defective and uncorrected, resulting in undue losses to the government.
If found guilty in the administrative case, Zarate could face dismissal from service. (Trixee Rosel)
