Latest DPWH stink: P491-M ‘right-of-way scam’; 6 face graft raps

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday filed graft and malversation charges in the Sandiganbayan against six former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials over their alleged involvement in the irregular acquisition of road right-of-way (ROW), worth at least P491 million, in General Santos City.

The Ombudsman said it found “prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction” against six officials of the DPWH regional office in Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos), including former Regional Director Subair Saro Diron and former Assistant Regional Director Laureano Suan Jr. The antigraft body also filed charges against seven private individuals allegedly involved in the scheme.

Each of the accused is facing 18 counts of graft charges and 18 counts of malversation.

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According to the Ombudsman, the cases stemmed from reports submitted by the National Bureau of Investigation in 2018 and 2019 regarding ROW payment for 18 parcels of land affected by the construction of Digos-Makar National Road in Barangay Lagao, General Santos City.

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It said the DPWH Soccsksargen technical working group had approved the disbursement of P491.93 million to “claimants that were later found out to have presented falsified documents.”

The Ombudsman recalled that in 2017, witness Roberto Catapang Jr., who had claimed to be involved in the scheme, alleged that fake documents were being used to collect money from the government as payment for ROW.

“[T]he 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, as quoted by the Ombudsman.

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It also recalled that investigators had previously uncovered the alleged use of a 2009 appraisal value of P3,500 per square meter in determining the compensation for properties taken by the government in the early 1990s, which resulted in inflated ROW claims.

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In Koronadal City, the DPWH regional office declined to comment on the case, saying it is already pending before the court.

It also cited the sub judice rule, which restricts public comments, discussions and disclosures on pending judicial or administrative proceedings.

2017 allegations

In a news briefing in November 2017, then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II alleged that two Cabinet officials under former President Benigno Aquino III were involved in a “scam” that had cost the government P8.7 billion for ROW covered by what he described as “spurious” land titles in General Santos City.

Aguirre said a whistleblower, later revealed as Catapang, had named former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson as among those allegedly involved in the scheme, which supposedly started during the latter part of the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2009.

But Abad, in a message to reporters also in November 2017, had said that the allegations “have no basis in fact and in truth.” He said the Department of Budget and Management “has nothing to do with the negotiations and approval of ROW claims” and such functions lie with the DPWH.

The following month, Singson also denied his involvement at a hearing conducted by the Senate committee on public works. He said he had authorized the payments to the claims based on the documents forwarded by the DPWH office in Soccsksargen to the central office.

By 2018, the Senate blue ribbon committee had begun its investigation into the ROW scheme and heard statements from Catapang who had been admitted into the witness protection program of the Department of Justice.

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Contacted on Tuesday, Singson declined to comment, saying he had to first check records and other information related to the issue that cropped up almost 10 years ago. —With reports from Amiel Cagayan and Bernadette Nicole Pineda