CIDG Ready to Arrest Senator Marcoleta If Warrant Issued

The investigative arm of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), is ready to enforce an arrest warrant should the Sandiganbayan issue one against Senator Rodante Marcoleta. Col. John Guiagui, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group National Capital Region field office chief, said the CIDG is prepared to serve any arrest warrant against Marcoleta, who is a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo. “As of now, the CIDG has not received a warrant of arrest for any high ranking official,” Guiagui said. “If one is issued, just like the previous cases, the CIDG is ready to implement and serve it.” He said the PNP as a whole is ready to enforce the warrant. The Office of the Ombudsman will file a plunder case against Marcoleta before the Sandiganbayan. Meanwhile, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the anti-graft office is investigating Tarlac 3rd District Rep. Noel Rivera and Uswag Ilonggo party-list Rep. Jojo Ang for conflict of interest in bagging infrastructure projects. Clavano said the complaints have reached the preliminary investigation stage and Rivera and Ang were asked to answer the allegations that they own construction firms that bagged a number of government contracts for infrastructure projects. “Congressmen are prohibited from owning construction firms because they have influence over the budget. Any reward to a construction company under their name, or can be traced to them via beneficial ownership, is a violation of the conflict of interest rule,” Clavano said. In the complaint, it was alleged that Rivera owns the Tarlac 3-G Construction and Development Corp. with his wife, Concepcion Vice Mayor Evelyn Rivera. The couple were accused of channeling P600 million in government contracts to a firm they own, with the congressman allegedly signing around 30 government contracts awarded to the firm since 2018. Ang is reportedly the nephew of the owners of International Builders Corp., the biggest contractor in Western Visayas, which reportedly built two “substandard flyover projects” in Iloilo worth more than P1.7 billion. He allegedly remained a co-owner of the family-run firm for nearly a year after taking office in 2022. Clavano said the two lawmakers are the first among several that the ombudsman will probe. He said investigators do not need to prove whether the “congtractors” benefited from government contracts as only proving their ownership of the construction firms will be sufficient. — Daphne Galvez