THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed plunder and other charges at the Ombudsman against former Public Works secretary Rogelio L. Singson and 33 others, in connection with an alleged road right-of-way (RROW) scam in General Santos City as disclosed late last year by Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II.

NBI Regional Operations Services Deputy Director Antonio M. Pagatpat said in a press conference that plunder and   violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act have been slapped on Mr. Singson, several retired and current employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), as well as a number of auditors of the Commission on Audit (CoA) and private individuals.

The accused DPWH employees and retirees were also charged with grave misconduct.

Mr. Pagatpat said the filing of charges was in keeping with Mr. Aguirre’s order on Nov. 24, 2017, instructing the NBI to investigate the alleged scam involving the purchase of fake land titles using government funds.

“In the seven Disbursement Vouchers (DV) provided by the DPWH to the NBI out of the 50 DVs requested, the nine claims for compensation of the (seven) claimants were paid…the amount of P255,549,999 in (five) tranches,” the NBI also said in a statement.

“However, the supporting documents such as Identification Cards (ID) of PhilHealth, Postal IDs of claimants, TCTs (Transfer Certificates of Titles), Tax Declarations, City Appraisal Reports, City Treasurer’s Certification on Real Property Tax Receipts, among others, that were attached to the claims when verified by the NBI with concerned government agencies are all spurious,” the statement also read.

Roberto S. Catapang, the whistle-blower in the alleged scam, was quoted in the statement as saying that “members of the syndicate, in collusion with DPWH officials and employees, fabricate(d) and submit(ted) fake documents such as Land Titles, Special Power of Attorney (SPA), Tax Declarations, Appraisal Reports, and other supporting documents to the DPWH.”

He added: “Once cleared by the government agencies concerned, the claims for just compensation are processed by the DPWH officials for a fee exclusive of their share in the proceeds of said bogus claims.”

Mr. Catapang also linked former Budget secretary Florencio B. Abad to the alleged scam, following the former’s entry into the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program. Mr. Singson is out of the country as of this reporting, but he and Mr. Abad have denied the allegations against them. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

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