DPWH exec indicted for purchase of public land

A former chief of legal services at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has been indicted for graft over the payment of P24 million in 2001 for two expropriated properties that turned out to be public land.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said Oscar Abundo approved the payment of P24 million to the supposed owners of two lots in Nakar, General Santos City, despite knowing that the fund release document for the highway project was defective.

The Commission on Audit reportedly found that the two lots sold in 2001 by the heirs of Mohamad Bin Abdurasak to the DPWH were owned by the state.

State auditors also found that “the DPWH paid the second installment of the claim despite a discrepancy” in the Special Allotment Release Order (Saro), which mistakenly referred to the project as part of the Davao City-Bukidnon Road instead of the General Santos City-Koronadal Road.

The Ombudsman said Abundo purposely did not correct the mistake in the Saro so the funds would not revert to the national coffers at the end of 2001.

Investigators found that Abundo proposed the payment scheme for the lots and that he instructed the DPWH Region XI director to prepare the deed of sale. Abundo allegedly also instructed the regional director to hold on to the funds when the latter tried to return the voucher.

Abundo also allegedly instructed the chief accountant to certify that funds were available to cover the P24 million payment.