Ex-DPWH officials in vehicle ghost repair get 300 years

MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Public Works and Highways assistant director Florendo Arias and five other erstwhile officials of the DPWH were sentenced to more than 300 years in prison for multiple counts of graft and estafa.

The cases filed against the former DPWH officials stemmed from the fictitious repair of the agency’s service vehicles from 2000 to 2001.

In a 122-page decision promulgated on March 14, the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division found Arias guilty of 22 counts of graft under Republic Act 3019 and 22 counts of the complex crime of estafa through falsification of public documents under the Revised Penal Code.

Former DPWH accountant Rogelio Beray was found guilty of 41 counts each of the charge of graft and estafa.

Former DPWH supply officer Napoleon Anas and former fiscal controller Ricardo Juan were also found guilty of 38 counts each of the same offenses.

Former supply officer Mirope Fronda was found guilty of 31 counts each of the same offenses. His fellow former supply officer Jesus Cruz was found guilty of seven counts each of the same offense.

Also convicted of graft and estafa were private respondents Janette Bugayong (15 counts of each offense) and Victoria Maniego-Go (23 counts of each offense).

The Seventh Division sentenced the former DPWH officials and the private respondents to up to eight years in prison for each count of graft, with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

They were also ordered to pay a fine of P5,000 for each count of the offense.

For the estafa complaint, the former DPWH officials and the private respondents were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. They were also ordered to jointly pay the government P1.9 million in civil liability.

With their conviction for multiple counts of the offenses, the former DPWH officials were meted up to 300 years in prison.

The country’s penal justice system limits the maximum period of imprisonment for a felony to 40 years, as provided under Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code.

The cases were filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2013 over the “ghost” repairs of DPWH service vehicles and the fictitious procurement of car spare parts.

The ombudsman probe showed that 4,406 checks amounting to P82.322 million were issued as payments for the supposed repairs of vehicles and purchase of car spare parts using fictitious receipts and other reimbursement documents.

“The conspiracy of the defendants is clear as day, and is made even clearer by the fact that together, they repeated this process again and again,” the Sandiganbayan ruling stated.

“They all joined in a web of conspiracy, devised a way to rob the government. Funds were flushed out of the government coffers with nowhere to go, but the concerted effort to brook the claims for reimbursement,” the anti-graft court added.