MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday filed graft and malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan against six personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and seven private individuals over an alleged P491.9-million road right-of-way scam in General Santos City.
The charges involve compensation for 18 parcels of land affected by the construction of the Digos-Makar National Road in Lagao, General Santos City.
Former DPWH Region 12 regional director Subair Saro Diron and former assistant regional director Laureano Suan Jr. are among those charged.
The Ombudsman said that the DPWH Region XII technical working group approved P491,931,120.20 in payments to claimants who were later found to have submitted falsified documents.
The alleged scheme involved the use of a 2009 appraisal value of P3,500 per square meter to determine compensation for properties acquired by the government in the early 1990s, resulting in inflated right-of-way claims.
Witness Roberto Catapang Jr., who admitted involvement in the alleged syndicate in a 2017 affidavit, said the group, “in collusion with respondent public officers,” collected government funds by fabricating and submitting fake documents.
The Ombudsman said the charges followed National Bureau of Investigation reports submitted in 2018 and 2019. It ordered the dismissal of former DPWH Region 12 legal officer Ansare Mariga Busran in a separate administrative decision.
