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| Ignacio faces up to life in prison if convicted of plunder |
The Department of Migrant Workers announced Tuesday that it has filed plunder and graft charges against former Administrator Arnell Ignacio of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and eight others, including his two former deputies, over an allegedly anomalous purchase of a parcel of land for P1.4 billion.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac made the announcement, saying the filing of charges with the Office of the Ombudsman was in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s call for accountability in public service, which he emphasized in his State of the Nation (SONA) address on Monday.
“With respect to the investigation that we had concerning the P1.4B land acquisition deal at OWWA, we filed a case before the Office of the Ombudsman against the former administrator and two former deputy administrators in relation to the deliberate bypassing of OWWA Board of Trustees under highly questionable circumstances that amount to violations of various laws,” said Cacdac in a press briefing.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
He said six other people who had sold the land, were also included in the charge sheet.
While Cacdac did not
mention the two other former OWWA officials charged with Ignacio, previous
media reports identified ex deputy administrator Emma Sinclair as among those being
investigated. The other deputy administrator who served under Ignacio was
lawyer Honey Quiño.
Cacdac said it was unusual that the OWWA Board was left out on the transaction since the two deputy administrators had been with OWWA for some time and should have been familiar with the agency’s processes.
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| Ignacio denied any wrongdoing at a press conference in May, after he was sacked |
Ignacio was unceremoniously removed as OWWA chief on May 16 this year, and was immediately replaced with former DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne "PY" Caunan.
A few days after his sacking Ignacio spoke out in public to deny any wrongdoing, and said everything that he did was for the benefit of overseas Filipino workers.
The case arose over OWWA’s acquisition of a 1.5-hectare property near Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in September 2024, which was supposedly to be used in building a halfway-house for distressed or displaced OFWs.
DMW said the property was unsuitable for development because it is very close to the airport runway.
The Department also discovered that the land had come with 52 condominium units, which formed part of the property evaluation of Land Bank. This was the reason the selling price had reached Php1.4 billion.
The DMW learned later on that the condominiums were demolished for reasons that were unclear.
Secretary Cacdac also said that OWWA’s board of directors, which he chairs, was not consulted on the land deal, much less asked for approval, as should have been the case.
Under its charter, the OWWA Board should have authorized the deed of sale for the land, as well as the supplemental agreement subsequently entered into by Ignacio and the sellers.
During the investigation, it was also found out that there were other documents, particularly vouchers and checks related to the land acquisition, that were signed before the sale was finalized.
“We discovered there were vouchers and checks signed prior to the Deed of Sale. So that’s among the other things that completely bolstered and supported our case. There are few others but this is the biggest that we unearthed at the course of the investigation,” said Cacdac.
He also said the DMW will give updates later on whether they will also file a civil case for damages as a result of the transaction.
