AKBAYAN Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno urged officials and employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to voluntarily execute waivers of the bank secrecy law amid the ongoing probe on flood control anomalies.
“Perhaps it would be good to…consider asking the employees and officials of DPWH to execute waivers of the bank secrecy law,” Diokno told DPWH Sec. Vince Dizon during the agency’s budget deliberation.
While it is not part of the standard operating procedure, Diokno said there is no legal impediment to requesting them to do it.
Diokno also called on Dizon to issue an order securing all government electronic devices, such as computers and mobile phones, that may have been used by those who have been dismissed, retired, or resigned, because those are government property.
“Walang right to privacy ang mga opisyal na gumamit ‘non. And under the law and jurisprudence, you may access that and determine if there are communications there that are incriminating. Magagamit ‘yun laban sa kanila,” he said, underscoring that any incriminating communications on these devices could be used in the investigation.
The lawmaker said it would also be best for the DPWH to request the telecommunication companies to preserve records of cellphone use by the agency’s officials and employees so they can trace messages, calls, and location during a particular time.
“If they are government issued, again, there is no right to privacy on the part of the users for government officials, and you may access text messages, cellphone calls, even locations of particular times, if there are issues about who they met with or when they met with them,” he emphasized.
The Department of Finance previously reported that economiclosses due to corruption in flood control projects may have averaged P118.5 billion annually from 2023 to 2025.
Diokno also reminded Secretary Dizon about the Supreme Court’s rules on the issuance of cyber warrants, which apply even to corruption cases involving the use of electronic or computer devices.
“If you come up with information or evidence in that direction, perhaps it may be something to consider to secure warrants to intercept electronic data or to obtain data already found in cellphones and other electronic devices,” he said.
The DPWH Secretary, for his part, welcomed Diokno’s suggestions, saying they will coordinate with Gen. Bernard Yang of the PNP Cybercrime Division to assist the DPWH on this matter
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