FORMER OVERSEAS Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Arnell Ignacio is likely to spend some time behind bars after the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to file charges arising from an unauthorized land acquisition in 2024.
In a resolution dated June 19, and received by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on July 7, 2026, the Ombudsman ruled that Ignacio signed the contract to sell, the deed of absolute sale and its addendum, and approved the disbursement of public funds for the transaction without authority from the OWWA Board of Trustees.
According to DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, the Ombudsman hinted at filing charges of usurpation of authority against Ignacio before the proper court.
“The findings of the Ombudsman is to charge the former administrator with usurpation of official functions under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code,” Cacdac said.
ONE-MAN RULE
According to the resolution, Ignacio “acted under the pretense of authority from the OWWA Board of Trustees, despite knowing he had no such authority, an act that transcends mere administrative non-compliance and directly constitutes the crime of Usurpation of Official Functions.”
The Ombudsman emphasized that the failure to secure Board approval was not a mere technical lapse.
It stated that the act bypassed the institutional oversight and transparency required under the OWWA Charter and involved performing functions outside the former administrator’s lawful mandate.
IMMINENT JAILTIME
Usurpation of official functions is a criminal offense punishable by six months to four years of imprisonment under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.
The law penalizes any person who shall knowingly and falsely represent himself to be an officer, agent or representative of any department or agency of the government, or who, under pretense of official position, performs any act pertaining to any person in authority or public officer without being lawfully entitled to do so.
The P1.4-billion transaction at the center of the case has been under scrutiny since last year. Ignacio was removed as OWWA administrator in May 2025 due to loss of trust and confidence, after the DMW discovered that the land deal did not have the required authorization from the OWWA Board.
FILE PLUNDER TOO
While the Ombudsman found grounds for the usurpation charge, it dismissed the DMW’s separate complaints for graft, malversation of public funds, and plunder against Ignacio and the private seller.
However, the DMW is set to challenge that part of the ruling. On July 10, Cacdac said during a press briefing that the agency will file a Motion for Reconsideration, asking the Ombudsman to review evidence that the Department believes was not fully addressed in the resolution.
“What we plan to do is to file a Motion for Reconsideration because, in our view, the Resolution did not pass upon details that we submitted to the honorable Office of the Ombudsman,” he said.
Cacdac said the motion will focus on two key elements: the alleged undue advantage given to the seller and the damage or prejudice caused to the government.
51 CONDO UNITS
He also raised a more alarming discovery — 51 condominium units valued at approximately P97 million were included in the P1.4-billion purchase price.
Titles covering the units were issued in the name of the Republic of the Philippines through OWWA. However, when the current OWWA administration conducted an ocular inspection of the property, the condominium structures were nowhere to be found.
“The point here is the government paid for condominium units that no longer exist. That is the damage. That is the prejudicial part,” Cacdac said.
He stressed that the DMW is duty-bound to exhaust all available legal remedies to protect public funds, uphold accountability in the use of government resources, and safeguard the welfare funds of overseas Filipino workers, from which OWWA’s trust fund is sourced.
The case now proceeds to the courts for the usurpation charge, while the DMW awaits the Ombudsman’s action on its forthcoming motion for reconsideration on the dismissed graft and plunder complaints.