Attracting unwanted attention from motorists and ordinary citizens for some time now is a concreting project in barangay San Isidro Village being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office.
It is officially titled Construction of Access Road leading to Virac Airport and is funded under the Convergence and Special Support Program’s Construction/Improvement of Access Roads leading to Airports (Kalsada Tungo sa Paliparan, Riles at Daungan Program) or KATUPARAN.
Undertaken by Bicol Goldrock Construction Corp., reportedly a ‘trusted’ contractor of the politicians now ‘running’ DPWH Catanduanes, the project’s contract cost is somewhere north of P100 million.
Information from reliable sources inside and outside DPWH indicate that the project was originally proposed in 2022 as a paved road linking the national highway in Cavinitan, going through its main road towards the end of the 1.8-kilometer runway where it takes a U-turn towards SIV.
The proposed road proceeds along the road fronting the Virac housing project being undertaken by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and passed through the Our Lady’s Village subdivision before turning left and then right towards Virac Airport.
In 2023, however, the politician concerned allegedly asked the DPWH regional office to transfer the project site to a nearby municipality.
The local DPWH District Engineering Office also submitted a counter proposal realigning the funds to the construction of a second lane for the nearly three decade-old Pajo bridge in Virac.
Both recommendations apparently did not get the nod of regional officials, with the project firmly back at the airport site.
The problem with this present situation is that the main roads leading to the airport, from the Pajo side or the highway side, are already paved, with the last concreting project completed just seven years ago.
The contractor and the DPWH regional office, according to reports, have begun paving the rough road leading to the housing project and the resettlement area beside it.
However, the volume of the concrete to be poured into this length is not enough to satisfy the contracted volume or area of road to be paved under the contract.
This is the reason why the contractor, with the approval of the DPWH regional office, is now tearing up several perfectly good concrete road sections in San Isidro Village just to comply with the contract volume.
It is also paving the rest of the unpaved roads in the barangay, with the residents and barangay officials understandably not raising a complaint.
Why the DPWH regional office did not even consider the proposal to realign the funds to the improvement of Pajo bridge, a key infrastructure and part of the road leading to the airport, is both astounding and highly disappointing.
But to those in the know, the one pulling the strings at the local DPWH are certainly aware that concreting projects are much more profitable than bridge construction.
Still, the realization that the more than P100 million in project funds could have served the public more by being realigned to the Pajo bridge is heavy on every taxpayer’s heart.
Under Section 2(c) of Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, it is “the policy of the State to require all national agencies and offices to conduct periodic consultations with appropriate local government units, nongovernmental and people’s organizations, and other concerned sectors of the community before any project or program is implemented in their respective jurisdictions.”
Section 25(b) of the same Code also says national agencies and offices with project implementation functions shall coordinate with one another and with LGUs concerned in the discharge of these functions and shall ensure the LGU’s participation both in the planning and implementation of said national projects.
Sadly, these two provisions of the Code have not been followed to the letter for three decades now and its import brought to public consciousness only when there is intense political rivalry in a particular LGU.
Local politicians are expectedly wary of using the same provisions lest it be wielded against them in the future, thus signifying their tacit consent to this and other glaring examples of wanton waste of scare public funds.
Corruption 😒 they should focus on making sure that Catanduanes is equipped with facilities and equipments to handle disasters and focus on green projects. The roads around San Miguel and Baras as well as Bato are littered. People keep burning trash even tho it is illegal. Bruh, implement the law strictly!