Officials cleared of graft
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has cleared three village officials from Cebu City and three other environment agency officials of allegations they conspired to unlawfully cancel a subdivision plan in 2016.
Darius Sagadal, graft investigation and prosecution officer, dismissed for lack of evidence the complaints for falsification by a public officer and perjury against Tisa Brgy. Capt. Phillip Zafra, Labangon Brgy. Capt. Felix Abella, Tisa Brgy. Councilor Norvic Abella and their co-respondents. “There appears to be no improper performance, or excessive use of authority on the part of the respondents,” read Sagadal’s resolution.
The other respondents are Eduardo Inting, director for technical services of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); Wilfredo Lee, DENR 7 assistant regional director for technical services; and Adriano Odal, DENR 7 project section and surveys and mapping division chief.
Complainant Damian Alatraca Jr. had accused them of falsification by a public officer and conduct unbecoming of a public official and grave abuse of authority. In 2013, he said he got a geodetic engineer to survey and make another subdivision plan on a property reflecting his road-right-of-way. In February 2016, a letter request was sent to the DENR to have the second subdivision plan canceled. Lee, then the DENR technical services director, formed a team to investigate the request.
It later recommended the canceling of the second subdivision plan for lack of permission from the lot owner. Alatraca said the order to cancel the second subdivision plan was in contrast to a court ruling granting him and his spouse a road-rightof-way. The respondents argued that the decision to cancel the subdivision plan was pursuant to the DENR guidelines on the land survey.
In the resolution, the ombudsman held the DENR’s order that canceling the subdivision plan was not falsified. “While the complainant may have been granted a road-rightof-way over the property, the cancellation of the second subdivision plan does not make out the offense of falsification or perjury,” the ombudsman said.