MANILA— The Office of the Ombudsman has filed 36 criminal charges against six personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region XII over their alleged involvement in a P491.9-million road right-of-way scam in General Santos City.

The cases filed before the Sandiganbayan consist of 18 counts of malversation of public funds or property through falsification of public documents and another 18 counts of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In its resolution, the Ombudsman found prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction against former DPWH Region XII Regional Director Subair Saro Diron, former Assistant Regional Director Laureano B. Suan Jr., and four other agency personnel.

Seven private individuals allegedly involved in the scheme were also included in the cases.

The charges stemmed from three investigation reports submitted by the National Bureau of Investigation in 2018 and 2019 concerning payments for the acquisition of 18 parcels of land allegedly affected by the construction of the Digos-Makar National Road in Lagao, General Santos City.

The DPWH Region XII technical working group approved the release of P491,931,120.20 to claimants who were later found to have submitted falsified documents, according to the Ombudsman.

Investigators also discovered the alleged use of a 2009 property appraisal value of P3,500 per square meter to calculate compensation for land acquired by the government in the early 1990s, resulting in inflated right-of-way claims.

In an affidavit executed in 2017, witness Roberto S. Catapang Jr. admitted his involvement in a syndicate that allegedly worked with public officials to obtain government payments using fabricated documents.

“The 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.

In a separate administrative decision, the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from government service of former DPWH Region XII Legal Officer Ansare Mariga Busran.