DPWH officials convicted of graft, estafa for ghost repairs

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has convicted six officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of graft and estafa for stealing funds from government amounting to P5,166,539 through ghost repairs of service vehicles.

In a decision cited in an Ombudsman statement Thursday, the Sandiganbayan found the following guilty of estafa through falsification of documents and were sentenced to 10 to 20 years jail term: Director III Burt Favorito, Officer-in-Charge Assistant Director Florendo Arias, Chief Maximo Borje, Equipment Inspector Rolando Castillo, Chief Erdito Quarto, Storekeeper Felipe San Jose, and private respondent Conchita Dela Cruz, owner of DEB Auto Repair Shop and Parts Supply Corporation.

They were also found guilty of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment. They were also perpetually disqualified from public office.

The anti-graft court ordered the accused to indemnify the government an amount of P5,166,539.00 as civil liability.

Ombudsman prosecutors were able to prove that from March to December 2001, the DPWH paid 274 transactions for the ghost repairs of 39 service vehicles.

The court ruled that the repairs were not urgent in nature and were not absolutely necessary and exceptionally urgent to prevent immediate danger to, or loss of, life and/or property, or to avoid detriment to public service.

The officials also split the contracts to circumvent procurement limitations, the court said.

The officials also falsified the following supporting documents to support the issuance of disbursement vouchers for the ghost repairs:  job orders, pre-repairs inspections reports, requisition for supplies and equipment, accreditation papers, sales invoices/ office receipts, acceptance reports, post-repair inspection reports, reports of waste materials, requests for obligation of allotments, certificates of emergency purchase, canvas and price monitoring sheets.

The court said that the reimbursements were actually “false claims that formed part of sinister schemes to steal government funds.” JE/rga