Acting on the expose of TGP Rep. Jose “Bong” Teves Jr., DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has agreed to probe of the Bicol regional office’s allegedly irregular implementation of two road and seawall projects in Catanduanes.
In his privilege speech in Congress last week, Cong. Teves admitted having allocated the funding for the road project leading to a beach in Minaabat point, Sioron in Gigmoto town in 2022 that was awarded by the DPWH regional office to E.R. Rodriguez Construction Corp. in April 2022 at a contract cost of P54.9 million.
He said that the project, which was intended to improve the development of and livelihood opportunities in the province, was reported by the regional office as 91% completed as of September 2024, contrary to adverse reports in the local media.
“Pina-check ko ito noong August 31, 2025, halos wala pang nagagawa, 30% pa lang ang nagagwa dito,”
the partylist representative disclosed.
He expressed frustration that the regional office and the district engineer did not coordinate with his office on the status of the project.
“As a congressman, may oversight power tayo to ensure that the budget approved by Congress ay nagagamit nang tama,” Teves stressed.
Likewise, he aired the complaint of Virac local officials regarding a defective seawall project constructed by Bicol Goldrock Construction that failed after a year.
He asked his colleagues to investigate the road and seawall projects in Catanduanes along with the flood control projects and vowed to submit supporting documents.
In response, Sec. Dizon said he will ask the DPWH regional director, Engr. Virgilio Eduarte, to explain the matter to him, citing the importance of coordination with local government units.
“Nawala ang LGU,” he pointed out. “Ibabalik natin yan, ang pag-sign-off sa mga projects.”
It may be recalled that in its Nov. 6, 2024 issue, the Tribune published as its headline story the filing of a complaint against RD Eduarte and ERR Construction Corp. before the Ombudsman by four residents of Gigmoto over the allegedly overpriced Minaabat road project.
In the complaint for violation of Section 3 (g) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and the two provisions of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Among the alleged violations of law were the DPWH preparation of an accomplishment report showing that the project as already 91% as of Dec. 31, 2023 when an inspection by the Provincial Project Monitoring Committee showed that it was only 64.5% completed as of May 2024; the continued work on a revised route by the contractor after the contract’s expiration on March 15, 2024 and in the absence of an approved variation order and time extension; the use of substandard materials, including cracked concrete from road reblocking projects; violation of standard specifications; and, irregular and unrealistic cross sections in the plans resulting to bloated volumes of road excavation.
The filing of the graft complaint has effectively blocked the DPWH regional office from processing the claim for payment by the contractor for its accomplishments in the project.