LAS Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos yesterday called on Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to accept the resignation of the controversial head of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office (LPM-DEO), following allegations that ₱450 million in infrastructure funds had “disappeared.”
Santos also urged Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to place Engr. Isabelo Baleros, chief of the LPM-DEO, on the immigration lookout bulletin to prevent him from leaving the country amid allegations of irregularities in the handling of major multi-million-peso infrastructure projects in Las Piñas.
“This is not just a case of missing documents—it’s people’s money. We cannot allow officials to handle hundreds of millions without accountability,” Santos said.
Former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan last month reassigned Baleros to the DPWH Metro Manila 3rd District Engineering Office after he failed to respond to Rep. Santos’ inquiry on the whereabouts of the ₱450 million funds. He was replaced at the LPM-DEO by Engr. Ruel Umali.
On August 30, 2018, then Public Works Secretary—now Senator—Mark Villar signed Special Order No. 135 appointing Baleros as acting head of the LPM-DEO, replacing Engr. Elpidio Trinidad. Baleros was formally installed as district engineer more than a year later.
Records also show that Villar appointed Engr. Ruel Umali as Officer-in-Charge of the DPWH Metro Manila 3rd District Engineering Office on January 4, 2021, just a few months after he filed his candidacy for the 2022 national elections.
Engr. Henry Alcantara, the dismissed head of the Bulacan First Engineering District who was implicated in several alleged “ghost” flood control projects, was likewise appointed by Villar on August 5, 2019.
Santos noted that Villar, who appointed the three controversial district engineers, has remained silent on the issue despite being chairman of the Senate Committee on public Works and Highways.
“Senator Villar owes the public a full explanation. If he personally oversaw these appointments, he must take responsibility and answer why these glaring irregularities are still happening under his watch,” Santos said.
Santos urged Dizon, who had ordered the courtesy resignations of DPWH officials from undersecretaries down to district engineers nationwide, to dismiss Baleros from service and file charges against him over the missing ₱450 million funds allocated for Las Piñas.
According to Santos, Dizon fired Alcantara after discovering a ghost flood control project worth over ₱96 million located in Barangay Sipat in Plaridel, Bulacan.
Alcantara also signed two more contracts for questionable flood control projects in Bulacan: one with Sarah Discaya’s St. Timothy Construction Corp. worth ₱94.6 million, and another with Wawao Builders worth ₱74.6 million.
Santos stressed that these three major infrastructure projects alone amounted to ₱265.2 million—still far less than the ₱450 million in infrastructure funds for Las Piñas that remain unaccounted for by the DPWH central office.
“If DPWH can account for ₱265 million worth of contracts in Bulacan, why can’t they explain where the ₱450 million for Las Piñas went?” Santos asked. “The longer they stay silent, the stronger the suspicion that something is being covered up. The public deserves answers.”
The deputy majority floor leader said Baleros could be held liable for multiple administrative and graft charges if he fails to account for the ₱450 million funds that were transferred from his district office to the DPWH Regional Office–NCR in July this year.
Santos added that, to this day, it remains unclear whether the nearly half-a-billion-peso funds originated from the 2025 General Appropriations Act or were congressional insertions made by his predecessors in the national budget.
“We cannot let these funds disappear into thin air while our communities wait for real infrastructure. Accountability is not optional—it is mandatory,” Santos said.
