Baguio mayor hits bad projs; slates 7 more cases vs DPWH

‘Kailangan namin ng matinong district engineer, empleyado’ 

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong urged the Dept. of Public Works and Highways central office under Secretary Manuel Bonoan to look into the quality of infrastructure projects in Baguio City which he said continues to be inferior.
    In a video message Thursday, the mayor lamented the “very consistent substandard projects of DPWH Baguio City District Engineering Office.”
    “Nagkaroon na ng audit pero wala kaming balita kung ano ang nangyari at hanggang ngayon ay walang aksyon sa aming mga nireklamong trabaho na talaga namang mababa ang kalidad o substandard,” Magalong said.
    He challenged the DPWH that if the agency is really promoting principles of good governance, this should also be implemented in Baguio City.
    Magalong said he already filed four cases in court against the BCDEO and said seven more cases will be filed anytime soon.
    “Sana po gumawa na po kayo ng paraan. Kailngan namin ng matinong district engineer at mga matitinong empleyado ng DPWH dito sa Baguio. Sana pakinggan niyo po kami,” Mayor Magalong stated.
    The mayor has been calling out projects of the DPWH-BCDEO in the past years claiming several projects are substandard and should be rectified. These projects have been the subject of four court cases filed against the BCDEO.
Mayor Magalong filed another complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the head of the BCDEO-DPWH alleging graft practices in the construction of a bridge here.
    It is the fourth such case filed against officials of the BCDEO-DPWH with the first three filed last year.
In his 11-page affidavit, Magalong charged BCDEO-DPWH District Engineer Rene Zarate of violating Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in relation with the alleged irregularities in the construction of a road bridge from Parapad Village, North Sanitary Camp Barangay going to Magsaysay Avenue.
    The complaint involved the project titled “Network Development - Construction of By-pass and Diversion Roads: Magsaysay Ave. to Rimando Road - Ambiong By-pass, Including Bridge and Row, Baguio City” with a contract amount of P88,099,659.56 given a notice to proceed on April 29, 2018 and completed on August 21, 2019.
    Magalong alleged that “there was improper construction and/or use of substandard materials and this was clearly made known and was brought to the attention of the respondent (Zarate),” based on his site inspection with the personnel of the City Engineering Office on January 2021.
    On Jan. 6, 2023, another inspection was conducted by the CEO and found that the improper construction and/or use of substandard materials remained the same.
    Magalong said that “from the results of the investigations/inspection, and assessment, it was evident that there was improper construction and/or use of substandard materials.”
    The mayor said he wanted administrative disciplinary action, and without prejudice to criminal and civil liabilities such as disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines and to the Filipino people. - PIO Baguio