Ombudsman files charges vs 6 DPWH personnel over alleged P491.9-M right-of-way 'scam'

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The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft and malversation charges against six Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials at the Sandiganbayan over their alleged involvement in a P491.9 million “Road Right of Way Scam.”

"The office found prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction against former DPWH Region XII Regional Director Subair Saro Diron, former Assistant Regional Director Laureano B. Suan Jr., and four other DPWH personnel," the Ombudsman said in a statement.

Apart from the six DPWH officials, seven private officials were also alleged to be part of the scheme and have been included in the cases.

The Office of the Ombudsman said that it has filed 18 informations for malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents under Articles 217 and 171 of the Revised Penal Code, and another 18 informations of violating Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The Ombudsman said that the charges stemmed from three investigation reports submitted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in 2018 and 2019, which involved the payment of right of way for 18 parcels of land which were allegedly affected by the construction of the Digos-Makar National Road in Lagao, General Santos City.

Witness Roberto S. Catapang Jr. said in an affidavit from 2017 that he was involved in the alleged syndicate.

“The group… in collusion with respondent public officers, collected money from the government purportedly as payments for the acquisitions, by fabricating and submitting fake documents,” Catapang said in a statement from the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman said that the DPWH Region XII technical working group (TWG) approved the disbursement of P491,931,120.20 to claimants that were alleged to have presented falsified documents.

Aside from this, there were also inflated right-of-way claims after an allegedly unlawful use of a 2009 appraisal value of P3,500 per square meter to determine the compensation for properties taken by the government during the 1990s, investigators found. —VAL, GMA News