It appears that both the Catanduanes State University and the Department of Public Works and Highways were not compliant with a 2024 circular covering the implementation of projects P5 million and above in the university.
The DPWH regional and district offices are implementing six infrastructure projects inside the CatSU campus, including the P100 million MICES gymnasium and the P10-million Home for the Elderly in Calatagan Tibang as well as the P90 million People’s Center in Calatagan Proper.
It was learned during a March 17, 2024 hearing of the Sangguniang Bayan of Virac that the DPWH had commenced construction of most of the projects even without a Memorandum of Agreement with the university.
DPWH engineers also confirmed that there was close coordination between Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez and the DPWH Planning and Design Section particularly in the implementation of the Home for the Elderly, with the DPWH proceeding with the project on the basis of a letter from then Pres. Patrick Alain Azanza approving the location of the facility in a remote corner of the sprawling campus 1.3 kilometers from the national road.
This would be in violation of the provisions of DPWH-CHED Joint Memorandum No. 01, series of 2024, which provides guidelines for implementing a provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act relative to infrastructure projects in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
Under the provision, it will be the DPWH who will implement infrastructure projects of SUCs with project costs exceeding P5 million. The projects include the construction, completion, rehabilitation, renovation, upgrading or repair of buildings.
In prior years, it was the SUCs which bid out and implemented their infra projects funded under the GAA.
Under JMC 01 s. 2024, the SUC shall submit to the DPWH Regional Office the proposed Detailed Architecture and Engineering Design (DAED) as well as provide documents for site ownership, and assist the DPWH in the acquisition of the necessary documents.
The DPWH initiates the request to enter into a MOA with the SUC, with both agencies conducting an Initial Joint Validation to identify implementable projects using established parameters in evaluating the projects.
It shall then request authority from the DPWH Secretary to enter into the MOA with the SUC to implement the project.
The SUC president shall seek from the SUC Governing Board authority to enter into MOA with the DPWH through a Board Resolution.
Only upon signing of the MOA by the DPWH regional director and the SUC president shall the DPWH prepare and approve the Final Detailed Architectural and Engineering Design and conduct cost estimation.
Records of the Municipal Engineering Office show that the building permit application for the Home for the Elderly was submitted by CatSU only on Feb. 6, 2025, or more than three months after the contractor, Hi-Tone Construction, started work on the project.
The university, through OIC-President Roberto Barba, also applied for a Locational Zoning Clearance only on March 17, 2025, with the clearance issued on the same day, while the building permit issued two days later on March 19.
The plans prepared by DPWH indicated the location of the project only as “Virac, Catanduanes,” with the location plan arrow pointing to the población and not Calatagan Tibang where the project was constructed.
An official of the DPWH who requested anonymity said this is evidence that at the time the design was made, the DPWH had no idea where the project was to be constructed.
This could also be the reason why no MOA was drafted before the contract for the project underwent bidding, he added.
The official also pointed out that the lack of definite location signifies that CatSU did not know of the proposed project beforehand, as it appears they did not submit the proposed Detailed Architecture and Engineering Design (DAED) to DPWH as required under RA 11936 prior to entering into an agreement.