DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon’s directive to indefinitely suspend road reblocking in different parts of the country is certainly most welcome.
Readers may recall that in the first week of June 2025, equipment belonging to a contractor of the DPWH regional office began tearing up the pavement of the national highway beginning from the Moonwalk junction for a road reblocking project.
What frustrates taxpayers is that the concrete road being torn up is still in relatively good condition with only a few spans in really bad condition.
Although it had longitudinal cracks, at least the over-50-year-old pavement is not as badly scarred as majority of the Moonwalk road that underwent reblocking less than five years ago and is now exhibiting what engineers describe as “major scaling.”
As the DPWH chief quoted a citizen last week, there are a lot of roads in good condition that are being dug up and then reblocked as a money-making scheme by district engineers, politicians, and contractors.
Except in Catanduanes’ case, the collusion in infrastructure projects is between the DPWH regional office, powerful politicians, and the latter’s chosen contractors.
Had the regional office even considered the scheduled road maintenance plan of the district office or consulted the municipalities through which the circumferential road passes, Regional Director Virgilio Eduarte and his staff could have learned that the so-called “asset preservation project” should have been done for the badly damaged road sections somewhere between Caramoran and Pandan, the highway in Viga, and the Summit road sections.
There was absolutely no need to tear up the highway from the Moonwalk junction to Bigaa, except for a few spans near the CZY hardware.
Likewise, the DPWH regional office should not have dug up the highway near Cathy’s riverside resort in Viga as it was still in reasonable condition.
It appears now that Eduarte’s office is prioritizing road reblocking projects not on the basis of actual need but for the convenience of contractors and their political padrinos.
Note that the Virac national highway reblocking is just a few kilometers away from the boulevard expansion project being undertaken by GCI Construction and Development Corp. through RG Mercado Construction Services.
Likewise, the reblocking project covering the relatively undamaged portion of the highway in Viga near Cathy’s riverside resort is just along the river, a convenient source of aggregates.
While it is not clear whether Sec. Dizon’s directive would cover on-going road reblocking projects like the Virac and Viga contracts, the public expects him to follow through on his vow to release a new department order to clarify policies on road reblocking.
It is important to stress that both the Virac and Viga projects are under the so-called “Asset Preservation Program” of the DPWH, which means they are likely covered by the indefinite suspension.
On the other hand, maintenance road work like the patching of potholes, clearing of landslides and vegetation control is exempted from the suspension order.
Last week, the DPWH secretary issued a memorandum for a citizen participatory audit, under which civil society organizations will take part in auditing DPWH projects nationwide — from procurement to completion.
Previously, CSOs only participated as observers in the bidding process, with its representatives most likely getting a share of the BAC’s commission from the winning contractors involved in the bid rigging.
The CPA, if carefully and thoroughly implemented, would ensure that there will be no ghost or substandard projects, especially coupled with the real DPWH consultation with LGUs prior to identifying projects for funding and implementation.
Of course, everything depends on the character of CSO representatives, who should have the moral strength to resist bribes and political pressure inherent in the bidding process.
To sustain these laudable moves, the nation’s judicial branch should ensure that those caught stealing fron the public coffers through infrastructure anomalies are punished to the fullest extent of the law.