Ex-DPWH officials convicted of corruption over right-of-way anomalies in South Cotabato

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has convicted two former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials of graft and falsification of public documents over anomalous right-of-way (ROW) payments in South Cotabato.

In its decision promulgated on March 26, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division convicted former DPWH- Region 12 (Soccsksargen) assistant regional director Tomas Rodriguez of two counts of violation of Republic Act RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and nine counts of falsification of public documents.

Former DPWH-Soccsksargen OIC chief of Planning and Design Division David Padlan was convicted of two counts of graft and four counts of falsification. Their conviction in multiple criminal charges stemmed from anomalous right-of-way payments from 2007 to 2015.

Rodriguez and Padlan were sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment for each count of graft, and six months to eight years for each falsification case; and and were perpetually barred from holding public office.They were also ordered the two to pay fines amounting to P5,000 for each count of falsification.

In its ruling, the anti-graft court cited the prosecution’s presentation of clear evidence that Rodriguez and Padlan caused undue injury to the government by misrepresenting supposed payments of ROW claims to private property owners, amountint to P5.35 million.

“Padlan as member, and Rodriguez as chairperson, of the IROW (infrastructure Right of Way) Committee acted with gross inexcusable negligence when they recommended the approval of the IROW Resolutions, accepted and signed the Certifications, and signed the Deeds of Sale, notwithstanding the presence of manifest irregularities,” the court said.

Evidence presented in court by prosecutors showed that the transfer certificates of title attached to the claims were for properties that had nothing to with the road projects with ROW issues.

They also cited the non-existent tax identification number and the Provincial Appraisal Committee (PAC) Resolution No. 03 that were used to secure the release of the ROW payments could not be found in the files of the Provincial Assessor’s Office.

The court disagreed with the argument of Padlan and Rodriguez that they could not be held criminally liable as they only relied on the recommendation of the Technical Working Group and were not personally involved in the screening, validation, field inspection or other verification activities.

The court said that under DPWH Special Order NO. 80, s. 2007, the IROW Committee had the “primary and non-delegable duty” to ensure compliance with procedures.

“In sum, the evidence establishes that accused Padlan and Rodriguez, in the discharge of their official functions as members of the IROW Committee, acted with gross inexcusable negligence in approving and facilitating the processing of spurious right-of-way claims,” it said. – Rappler.com