The Office of the Ombudsman has filed malversation and graft cases before the Sandiganbayan against six Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Soccsksargen personnel and seven private individuals over an alleged P491.93-million right-of-way (RoW) scam involving properties in General Santos City.

The Sandiganbayan is the Philippines' special anti-graft court, which hears criminal cases against public officials. The Office of the Ombudsman, an independent constitutional body, investigates and prosecutes alleged wrongdoing in government service. Right-of-way payments, meanwhile, are compensation owed to landowners when the state acquires private property for public infrastructure such as national roads.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Office of the Ombudsman said its resolution found prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction against former Regional Director Subair Saro Diron, former Assistant Regional Director Laureano B. Suan, Jr., and four other DPWH personnel.

The respondents face 18 counts of malversation of public funds or property through document falsification under Article 217 in relation to Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code, alongside 18 counts of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Article 217 penalizes the misappropriation of public funds or property by accountable public officers, while Article 171 covers falsification committed by public officials. Section 3(e) of the anti-graft statute, enacted in 1960, punishes officials who cause undue injury to any party, including the government, or grant unwarranted benefits through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence. The filing of the cases does not by itself establish the respondents' guilt, which will be determined in court.

According to the Ombudsman, the criminal charges stemmed from three National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reports submitted in 2018 and 2019. Those reports followed 2017 affidavits by witness Roberto S. Catapang, Jr., who admitted to syndicate collusion using fabricated documents to collect government payments. The NBI is the country's principal investigative agency under the Department of Justice.

Per the resolution, the DPWH technical working group in the region approved the disbursement of P491.93 million for 18 land parcels along the Digos-Makar National Road in Lagao, General Santos City, by unlawfully applying a 2009 appraisal rate of P3,500 per square meter to property takings dating back to the early 1990s to inflate claims. Soccsksargen, also designated as Region 12, is an administrative region in south-central Mindanao that includes General Santos City. The Digos-Makar road links Digos City in Davao del Sur with the Makar port area of General Santos City.

Separately, the Ombudsman ordered the administrative dismissal from service of a former DPWH Soccsksargen legal officer. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking

Source: BusinessWorld