House committee recommends raps vs. DPWH execs in road right-of-way scam

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has recommended filing charges against officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other individuals supposedly involved in large-scale Road Right-of-Way scam in Region XII.

In a report approved by the chamber on February 8, the committee recommended filing appropriate criminal cases against Wilma Mamburam, Nelson Ti, former DPWH Region XII directors Subair Diron and Reynaldo Tamayo, former Assistant Regional Director Laureano Suan Jr., and all members of the Regional Infrastructure Right of Way Committee and Technical Working Groups.

The House committee found “manifest showing of a pattern” by the syndicate led by Mamburam and Ti, who are not officials or employees of DPWH, in submitting fake documents and representing “fictitious” claimants or landowners.

Witness Roberto Catapang Jr. claimed the syndicate sought compensation intended for rightful owners affected by the construction of a national highway in General Santos City.

The House committee also found the involvement of several DPWH Region XII directors, including Diron and Tamayo, allowed the scam of to push through, according to the report.

Diron and Tamayo supposedly approved 127 right-of-way claims represented by syndicate members which amounted to at least P3.3 billion, report noted.

Tamayo allegedly approved disbursements of the fourth and fifth tranche of payments to the same set of claims even though he was supposedly aware of the red flags the Commission on Audit raised before him through Management Letters, the report noted.

Tamayo also allegedly approved the verification, evaluation, and payment for new road right-of-way claims amounting to over P633 million filed by the same individuals in 2015 to 2016.

For his approval, Tamayo and other officials received 20 percent in “commissions” from the syndicate, the committee claimed, citing Catapang’s sworn statement.

Tamayo, however, maintained he approved payments for road right-of-way claims after requesting for re-verification with the Regional IROW Committee certifying the validity of the claims, the report said.

Suana also insisted he performed due diligence when he ordered members of the Technical Working Group to check the veracity of the land titles with the Register of Deeds and personally visit lands involved in the claims.

Aside from filing charges against the syndicate, the committee recommended a lifestyle check on government officials supposedly involved in the scam and their immediate families.

The House panel recommended a Bureau of Internal Revenue probe against the DPWH officials for possible tax evasion cases against them.

The committee urged for a review of the DPWH’s rules and practices on right-of-way claims in order to prevent any illegal scheme from happening again. —Erwin Colcol/VDS, GMA News