Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Mario Lipana may be impeached after former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara claimed that he facilitated some P1.4 billion worth of budget insertions for flood control projects.
Lipana’s wife—Marilou—serves as the president and general manager of Olympus Mining and Builders Group Philippines Corporation, and has reportedly bagged P200 million worth of flood control projects from the DPWH.
“We should perhaps refer the matter of Commissioner Lipana’s involvement based on the testimony of Engineer Alcantara to the Committee on Justice because this looks like an impeachable offense,” he said during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing on the multi-billion flood control corruption issue.
Pangilinan is the chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
“Mr. Chairman, I understand he was an incumbent commissioner ng Commission on Audit. Tama ba yun? Commissioner ng Commission on Audit na lumalako ng flood control na projects sa inyo sa district sa Bulacan. Tama ba yun?,” the senator asked Alcantara.
“Dahil kayo ay inau-audit ng COA di ba? Paano magiging maayos ang audit kung mayroon hinihiling na proyekto sa inyo di ba?,” he added. “Dahil doon sa iyong pakiwari dahil nga nagfa-follow up siya sayo taon-taon yun diba? At may lumalabas sa hinihingi nya na flood control na listahan?”
Upon questioning by Pangilinan, Alcantara revealed that Lipana first reached out to him in 2022 to ask for a list of the flood control projects under his jurisdiction.
The dismissed DPWH district engineer revealed that based on the list of projects he provided Lipana, the insertions amounted to P1.4 billion—P500 million in 2023, P400 million in 2024, and P500 million in 2025.