The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday elevated complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman against several Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and private contractors regarding eight alleged “ghost” farm-to-market road (FMR) projects totaling approximately ₱94 million.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. personally initiated the legal action, levying accusations of corrupt practices, malversation, falsification of public documents, grave misconduct, and serious dishonesty against the respondents.
The move follows field inspections conducted by the DA chief last year, which reportedly revealed that the roads were non-existent despite official records marking them as fully completed.
“Nandito ako ngayon para mag-file ng cases sa mga taga-DPWH tsaka contractors ng farm-to-market roads na nakita namin wala. Ghost FMRs,” Laurel told reporters in an ambush interview. “A total of 8 cases ang finile today, maybe 7 more coming at most. Halos ito ay sa Davao Occidental.”
I am here today to file cases against those from DPWH and the contractors of farm-to-market roads that we discovered do not exist. Ghost FMRs. A total of 8 cases were filed today, maybe 7 more coming at most. Most of these are in Davao Occidental.
According to the DA, the individual projects—mostly funded in 2021—averaged around ₱11 million each.
“Anim ang finile-an. I’m not sure if they’re current or former DPWH, with eight contractors. Mga district engineers, project engineers, finance, quality assurance,” Laurel explained. “About ₱94 million kasi each FMR maliit lang naman, pero most of these are 2021 FMR projects. Ang amount mga 11 million per project at that time noong 2021.”
Six individuals were charged. I’m not sure if they’re current or former DPWH, along with eight contractors. These include district engineers, project engineers, finance, and quality assurance. It’s about ₱94 million because each FMR is quite small, but most of these are 2021 FMR projects. The amount was around 11 million per project at that time back in 2021.
One specific complaint identified DPWH Davao Occidental District Engineer Rodrigo Larete, Project Engineer Joel Lumogdang, Assistant District Engineer Michael Awa, Quality Assurance Officer Jafel Faunillan, and Acting Finance Chief Czar Ryan Ubungen. Alongside contractor Leonila Urgel of RDF Construction and Supply, they face charges over an FMR project in Barangay Caburan, Jose Abad Santos, which was allegedly paid in full at ₱11.94 million despite never being implemented.
The DA alleged that the respondents systematically manipulated paper trails, utilizing falsified Statements of Work Accomplished, Certificates of Payment, and Disbursement Vouchers to fabricate the completion of the projects.
A separate complaint named the same DPWH pool of officials alongside Masulot Construction, represented by Maligamama Medtamak, over another ₱11.92 million project in Barangay Caburan that DA field validation confirmed was never built.
The remaining cases involve similarly compromised road projects scattered across Barangays Culaman, Datu Danwata, Demoloc, Tical, and Manuel Peralta. The contracted values for these areas ranged between ₱10.02 million and ₱14.92 million.
The respective contractors implicated in those areas include:
- Florentino Pesigan Jr. (YPR General Contractor)
- Abdulaziz Kadil (Al Handasa Construction)
- Marivic Juanites (Janmarie Construction)
- Diana Borbon (DISEM Construction and Supply)
- Allen Borbon (Adan Builders Co.)
- Marvin Lata Cumbe and Honorio Cumbe (HVC Sagittarius Commercial and Construction)
The compiled lawsuits cite explicit violations of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Revised Penal Code provisions on malversation and falsification, and severe administrative offenses including grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.