Davao DPWH officials charged over ‘ghost’ farm road projects

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it lodged graft, malversation, and falsification charges against multiple officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Davao Occidental, alleging that they improperly certified eight farm-to-market road (FMR) projects as complete.

In a statement, the DA said it discovered eight projects valued at P94 million in the province, with the officials allegedly falsifying documents to declare the projects complete, facilitating the release of public funds.

The complaints over what the DA described as “ghost” projects, filed on Thursday at the Office of the Ombudsman, include corrupt practices, malversation, falsification of public documents, grave misconduct, and serious dishonesty.

The complaints cite violations of Articles 217, 171, and 172 of the Revised Penal Code concerning malversation through falsification of public documents, Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and administrative offenses including grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.

The DA is now the lead agency for FMRs after the DPWH was stripped of responsibility for building them in the wake of the infrastructure corruption scandal of 2025.

Validation of the projects was carried out by the DA’s Internal Audit Service (IAS), which has inspected at least 1,200 FMR projects in Regions III, IV-A, V, IX, X, and XI.

Those charged face potential penalties of imprisonment of up to 40 years, fines, and perpetual disqualification from public office. — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo