The House of Representatives pushed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to expand an ongoing probe of the road right of way (RRoW) scam to include other regions after it established fraudulent claims in Region 12 amounting to more than P3.3 billion.

At the same time, the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability urged the Office of the Ombudsman to file plunder charges against those involved in the scam.

In a six-page executive summary obtained by the Daily Tribune, the committee recommended the expansion of NBI investigation to other regions in the country, raising the possibility that similar scams are happening.

“The NBI should expand its investigation to include all RRoW claims in other regions to ensure that this kind of modus operandi is prevented or immediately stopped,” the document stated.

“The Office of the Ombudsman must immediately conduct its own investigation and file appropriate criminal cases for plunder, falsification of public documents, direct bribery and violations of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act against all individuals involved,” it added.

The recommendations were made after the House committee established the government was defrauded of at least P3.4 billion by a syndicate in collusion with unscrupulous government officials in fraudulent RRoW claims in Region 12 alone.

In the course of its investigation, the committee identified at least two officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) who gave the go-signal in paying the syndicate despite questionable documents and being red-flagged by the DPWH headquarters and the Commission on Audit.

The two are former DPWH Region 12 directors Subair Diron and Reynaldo Tamayo.

“DPWH RDs Diron and Tamayo together approved 127 RRoW claims represented by members of the syndicate amounting to at least P3.4 billion,” the committee said.

Tagged as leaders of the syndicate were Nelson Ti, a close friend of Eldon Cruz, brother-in-law of former President Aquino, and Wilma Mamburao. The report said they fraudulently misrepresented themselves to be landowners or representatives of the landowners entitled to the payment.

Also identified as the persons who collected for the syndicate or acted as attorneys-in-fact were Mae Javier, Amei Velayo, William Uy, Allan Manansala, Michael Baguio, Jun Javier, Sarah Guro, Datu Saidalih Tudon and Marissa Teongson Seguirre.

The committee said the syndicate limited every RRoW claim documents to less than P30 million to allow approval authority to the DPWH regional directors without the approval of the DPWH secretary.

“The NBI should investigate if there are other syndicates operating a similar scheme in other DPWH regional offices in the country,” the committee said.

“The DPWH must implement a more stringent system to suspend the disbursement of public funds for payment of spurious RRoW claims. Ensure that all documentary requirements are complied with and a physical and thorough evaluation of the lands subject of the claim is conducted,” it added.

The House committee started its inquiry on 12 December 2017 after Resolution 1551 was filed by Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr.