Court upholds conviction of ex-DPWH officials in Soccsksargen right-of-way scam

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of two former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in the Soccsksargen region over fraudulent right-of-way (ROW) payments linked to road projects in the region.

The court ruled that former DPWH-Region XII assistant regional director Tomas Rodriguez and former planning and design division officer-in-charge David Padlan caused the payment of more than P5.3 million in compensation claims without properly verifying the supporting documents.

In a resolution dated May 7, the court’s 4th Division denied their motion for reconsideration of a March 26 decision that sentenced them to six to 10 years in prison for each graft charge and six months to eight years for each falsification case, along with a lifetime ban from holding public office.

Court records showed that some Transfer Certificates of Title submitted in the claims referred to properties unrelated to the road projects. The Tax Identification Numbers listed were also found to be non-existent in Bureau of Internal Revenue records.

The court further noted that Provincial Appraisal Committee Resolution No. 03, which was used to justify the release of the payments, could not be found in the Provincial Assessor’s Office files.

Based on these findings, the Sandiganbayan said the officials were guilty of “gross inexcusable negligence” for allowing the disbursement of funds despite clear irregularities in the documentation. The falsification charges, meanwhile, were tied to public records containing false statements and questionable supporting documents.

In their motion, Rodriguez and Padlan asserted that they acted in good faith and had relied on the findings and recommendations of the Infrastructure Right of Way Technical Working Group, which was tasked with screening and verifying the documents. 

They maintained that their role was only to endorse recommendations, not to conduct detailed validation, and assailed the falsification ruling, claiming that there was no proof of criminal intent or that they knowingly made false entries in the documents.

The Sandiganbayan threw out their arguments, saying these had already been raised and resolved in earlier proceedings. 

The court said no new or substantial reason was presented in the motion, and that there was no “palpable error” that would justify reversing the March 26 decision.

“As correctly held, their functions as members of the IROW Committee did not end in a perfunctory review of the recommendations of the TWG. This duty necessarily entailed the exercise of independent judgment and due diligence, which cannot be discharged by mere reliance on subordinate bodies,” read part of the ruling. – Rappler.com