MANILA — Six officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Davao Occidental, along with several private contractors, have been formally charged over eight alleged non-existent farm-to-market road projects amounting to P94 million.The complaints were filed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City.The charges include corruption, malversation, falsification of public documents, grave misconduct, and serious dishonesty.Among the accused are DPWH engineers Michael Awa, Jafel Faunillan, Rodrigo Larete, Joel Lumogdang, Czar Ryan Ubungen, and Harold John Villaver.

Private contractors involved include Leonila Urgel, Allen Borbon, Diana Borbon, Marvin Cumbe, Honorio Cumbe, Marivic Juanites, Abdulaziz Kadil, Florentino Pesigan Jr., and Maligamama Medtamak, all allegedly involved in claiming full payments for projects that were never implemented.

The Department of Agriculture’s internal audit confirmed that these projects, located in villages like Caburan, Culaman, Datu Danwata, Demoloc, Manuel Peralta, and Tical, were not completed despite the submission of falsified documents to make it appear otherwise.Officials reportedly granted unwarranted benefits to private contractors, causing financial loss to the government.Further investigation is ongoing to determine if collusion existed between regional DPWH and DA officials and private contractors.