EDITORIAL
>> Sunday, September 16, 2007
The DPWH road contracts moro-moro in the Cordillera
It is always a source of amusement, comedy and anger among the populace when elective and executive officials like those from the Dept. of Public Works and Highways are accused of corruption involving multi-million pesos worth of projects.
It is also a source of wonder when it is an other body within an agency which absolves members of an agency like the DPWH of involvement in corruption or red tape.
Lately, the DPWH “internal affairs office” ruled that there was no anomaly in the bidding of the first P100 million released by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the initial works along the Halsema highway linking this mountain resort city, Benguet, Mountain Province and Ifugao.
Members of the IAO must now be red in the face as it was DPWH Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane himself who ordered the contractors and provincial DPWH officials to repair or redo substandard roads they did earlier.
In a letter to the complainants, lawyer Oliver T. Rodolfo, head of the AO, said that based on his fact-finding mission, he found no probable cause to charge DPWH Cordillera personnel relative to the alleged anomalies in the biding of the projects along the Halsema highway.
The fact-finding mission was an offshoot of an instruction by Director Wilbert L. Candelaria of the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon based on a letter-request from complainants for investigation to Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane.
Rodolfo said there was no probable cause to charge Cordillera regional DPWH personnel since the bidding was done in accordance to existing rules and regulations defined under Republic Act (RA) 9184.
He said the annexes in the terminal report especially the documents submitted by the contractors being complained of cannot just be furnished to the complainants as they were not competing contractors to the questioned projects.
“It would be very unfair and unjust on our part to just furnish copies of contractors’ supporting documents for biding purposes to a mere complainant who is not even a participating contractor,” Rodolfo said.
Somebody should tell Rodolfo that these are public documents and anybody could get hold of these if they request. While denying due course to the complaint, the DPWH official even had the temerity to extend his gratitude to complainants of allegation of anomalies or illegalities committed by personnel of the regional DPWH.
Regional and provincial DPWH officials said they were vindicated by the findings but then, this was dashed when Ebdane himself inspected the Mountain Province projects and found out that these were indeed substandard.
Comes now an investigation by the city council on the asphalt-overlay mess in Baguio City that had been washed away by rain. (See related story on page 12/MoreNews.)
Some city councilors were not pleased at all by the alibis of local DPWH officials on substandard asphalting of roads in the city’s business district.
Although the DPWH rushed to scrape and replace the damaged asphalt overlays last week, the council continued the investigation on the suspected anomalous project.
DPWH City district engineer Nerie Bueno appeared last week in a regular session and shed light on the controversy along with other DPWH officials. They appeared but their reasons, according to some councilors and onlookers, were not convincing.
Vice Mayor Daniel Farinas earlier bared the project was initiated by the city government and that taxpayers’ money was used for its implementation. He requested DPWH to repair the damaged roads to avoid accidents and prevent the scoured sand and gravel to clog the drainage system.
Councilor Nicasio Aliping Jr., chairman of the committee on public protection and safety, said many residents, motorists and media people have been questioning the laying of asphalt on an already cemented road which is still in good condition. He said that information on the implementation and standards of the project were necessary in informing residents on how the asphalt was easily washed away by rainwater.
Now, the city council is looking into measures that would penalize erring contractors or DPWH officials. The scoured asphalt overlays caused traffic jams likewise affected business establishments on busy Governor Pack Road, Harrison, Magsaysay Avenue, Kisad Road, Chanum St., and Abanao Road Extension.
The Bontoc and Baguio road controversies are just a few of anomalous road contract projects. There should be stiffer penalties against erring contractors or officials who get rich at the expense of taxpayers. If a big fish involved in anomalous road contracts would be jailed, then maybe, the jaded populace would take notice that that there is indeed a sincere effort on the part of government to stop corruption.
It is always a source of amusement, comedy and anger among the populace when elective and executive officials like those from the Dept. of Public Works and Highways are accused of corruption involving multi-million pesos worth of projects.
It is also a source of wonder when it is an other body within an agency which absolves members of an agency like the DPWH of involvement in corruption or red tape.
Lately, the DPWH “internal affairs office” ruled that there was no anomaly in the bidding of the first P100 million released by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the initial works along the Halsema highway linking this mountain resort city, Benguet, Mountain Province and Ifugao.
Members of the IAO must now be red in the face as it was DPWH Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane himself who ordered the contractors and provincial DPWH officials to repair or redo substandard roads they did earlier.
In a letter to the complainants, lawyer Oliver T. Rodolfo, head of the AO, said that based on his fact-finding mission, he found no probable cause to charge DPWH Cordillera personnel relative to the alleged anomalies in the biding of the projects along the Halsema highway.
The fact-finding mission was an offshoot of an instruction by Director Wilbert L. Candelaria of the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon based on a letter-request from complainants for investigation to Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane.
Rodolfo said there was no probable cause to charge Cordillera regional DPWH personnel since the bidding was done in accordance to existing rules and regulations defined under Republic Act (RA) 9184.
He said the annexes in the terminal report especially the documents submitted by the contractors being complained of cannot just be furnished to the complainants as they were not competing contractors to the questioned projects.
“It would be very unfair and unjust on our part to just furnish copies of contractors’ supporting documents for biding purposes to a mere complainant who is not even a participating contractor,” Rodolfo said.
Somebody should tell Rodolfo that these are public documents and anybody could get hold of these if they request. While denying due course to the complaint, the DPWH official even had the temerity to extend his gratitude to complainants of allegation of anomalies or illegalities committed by personnel of the regional DPWH.
Regional and provincial DPWH officials said they were vindicated by the findings but then, this was dashed when Ebdane himself inspected the Mountain Province projects and found out that these were indeed substandard.
Comes now an investigation by the city council on the asphalt-overlay mess in Baguio City that had been washed away by rain. (See related story on page 12/MoreNews.)
Some city councilors were not pleased at all by the alibis of local DPWH officials on substandard asphalting of roads in the city’s business district.
Although the DPWH rushed to scrape and replace the damaged asphalt overlays last week, the council continued the investigation on the suspected anomalous project.
DPWH City district engineer Nerie Bueno appeared last week in a regular session and shed light on the controversy along with other DPWH officials. They appeared but their reasons, according to some councilors and onlookers, were not convincing.
Vice Mayor Daniel Farinas earlier bared the project was initiated by the city government and that taxpayers’ money was used for its implementation. He requested DPWH to repair the damaged roads to avoid accidents and prevent the scoured sand and gravel to clog the drainage system.
Councilor Nicasio Aliping Jr., chairman of the committee on public protection and safety, said many residents, motorists and media people have been questioning the laying of asphalt on an already cemented road which is still in good condition. He said that information on the implementation and standards of the project were necessary in informing residents on how the asphalt was easily washed away by rainwater.
Now, the city council is looking into measures that would penalize erring contractors or DPWH officials. The scoured asphalt overlays caused traffic jams likewise affected business establishments on busy Governor Pack Road, Harrison, Magsaysay Avenue, Kisad Road, Chanum St., and Abanao Road Extension.
The Bontoc and Baguio road controversies are just a few of anomalous road contract projects. There should be stiffer penalties against erring contractors or officials who get rich at the expense of taxpayers. If a big fish involved in anomalous road contracts would be jailed, then maybe, the jaded populace would take notice that that there is indeed a sincere effort on the part of government to stop corruption.
0 comments:
Post a Comment