Ombudsman: DPWH accountant Calvo rearrested for malversation in flood control mess

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) accountant Juliet Calvo has been re-arrested after Ombudsman prosecutors amended the charges against her to include malversation of public funds over a P289 million substandard road dike project in Oriental Mindoro, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Wednesday.

“That’s true [that she was re arrested],” Remulla said in a press conference.

“I mean, I do not micromanage everything, but when they [other Ombudsman prosecutors] see that there is a little oversight, they correct it,” he added.

Calvo was initially booked as an accused facing a graft case, a bailable offense. She posted a P90,000 on Monday, November 24 for her temporary liberty.

During the filing of the malversation and graft charges concerning the Oriental Mindoro project on November 18, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the steel sheet piles used for the dike were grossly below the required standards.

This was based on the September 9, 2025 inspection conducted by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon and Oriental Mindoro Governor Bonz Dolor.

Specifically, Clavano said the measurements of the steel sheet piles showed that an exposed pile length of 2.5 meters and 0.6 meters embedded in the pile cap for a total of only about 3.0 meters – far from the 12-meter specification stated in the Detailed Engineering Design of the project. — JMA, GMA Integrated News