By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — Two Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) cashiers testified Wednesday on how payments were processed for a controversial flood-control project in Oriental Mindoro, as the graft trial of former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and his co-accused continued before the Sandiganbayan.
Pilar Amanda Gacutan and Carla Grace Dahonog, both from the DPWH Mimaropa regional office, appeared as state witnesses before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division and were subjected to cross-examination by defense lawyers.
Their testimony focused on the procedures used to release payments to Sunwest Corporation, a company linked to Co and previously identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as among the 15 contractors that secured the most flood-control projects between July 2022 and May 2025.
Dahonog testified that the finance division prepares the List of Due and Demandable Accounts Payable–Advice to Debit Account (LDDAP-ADA), the document used in processing payments.
As the designated maker, she said she encoded the payment information into the Land Bank Electronic Modified Disbursement System (EMDS), which is used to submit issued ADAs electronically to the bank.
After encoding the information, Dahonog said she forwarded the documents to Gacutan.
Gacutan, who served as the designated authorizer, said she accessed the EMDS to sign the ADA portion before it was forwarded to the bank.
During questioning by Associate Justice Maryann Corpuz-Mañalac, the presiding justice, Gacutan said the cashiers did not participate in securing approval for the payments.
She explained that their role began after the disbursement voucher and LDDAP had already been approved, at which point the payment documents were forwarded through the LandBank system.
Gacutan also testified that she was the only designated authorizer responsible for forwarding the LDDAP-ADA to the bank.
She said she could not authorize the transaction until the regional director, or an assistant regional director acting in the regional director’s absence, had approved it.
Asked by defense counsel whether the funds would not be transferred to the claimant without her authorization, Gacutan answered yes.
She identified Gerald Alday Pacanan, Gene Ryan Altea, and Ruben Santos Jr. as the officials for whom she was awaiting approval before authorizing the transaction. Pacanan was the regional director, while Altea and Santos were assistant regional directors of DPWH Mimaropa.
All three are co-accused with Co in the graft cases before the Sandiganbayan.
Gacutan further testified that no one coerced her into authorizing the crediting of funds based on the LDDAP-ADA.
The proceedings form part of the graft cases arising from a PHP289.9-million road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, which was flagged as substandard and found to have structural deficiencies.
The testimony of the two cashiers placed the payment process and the respective roles of DPWH officials on record as the Sandiganbayan continues hearing the cases against Co and his co-accused.
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