The top official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Catanduanes has refused to respond to a query on the status of infrastructure projects being implemented in the province by the regional office.
The Tribune’s request for information was prompted by the apparent ‘abandonment’ of two multimillion-peso projects by two contractors named as the beneficiaries of the flood control controversy.
For more than a week now, no workers have been seen at the road rehabilitation project being undertaken by GCI Construction and Development Corporation along the national highway in Virac, starting from the Moonwalk road junction to Bigaa.
However, two laborers of alleged subcontractor RG Mercado Construction Services at the site reportedly told traffic enforcers that work would resume at a later date on the unfinished lanes.
In the Gogon area, work at a drainage construction along the provincial road from the church rotunda to the bridge leading to the Virac Pilot area has likewise ceased.
The drainage is reportedly part of the P98-million river control project being implemented by Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corporation along Gogon river.
Hi-Tone and sister company Sunwest, Inc. are among the top 15 flood control contractors identified by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his SONA last July, with a total of 78 projects worth P10.1 billion while news reports stated that GCI won 28 projects in Bicol worth P2.52 billion.
In Catanduanes, Hi-Tone won a total of P2.45 billion in flood control projects while Sunwest had P578.6 million during the past four years, with the projects of the two Albay contractors concentrated along Hitoma river in barangay Obi, Caramoran which got a total of P1.1 billion in river control projects.
On the other hand, GCI has been awarded by DPWH a total of P1.48 billion in various infra projects in the island province.
Another Camarines Sur contractor, Bicol Goldrock Construction Corporation, has won a total of P920 million in projects since 2021.
GCI’s registered owner Gigi C. Ibasco is allegedly related to Steve C. Ibasco Jr. who runs Bicol Goldrock.
Except for first phase won by a local contractor, the two companies have cornered the yearly allocation for the Imelda boulevard expansion and extension project.
GCI implemented two phases costing a total of P239 million from 2019 to 2021 while Bicol Goldrock was awarded another for P104 million in 2022 and two more contracts costing P65 million each in the same year.
Then in a joint venture with NFH Construction, Bicol Goldrock won the current phase under construction worth P232.5 million. This was supposed to be completed last March 14, 2025 but has an accomplishment of 81.50 percent as per DPWH website.
Unconfirmed reports claim that the boulevard project was subcontracted to a Pampanga contractor for 50 percent of the contract cost.
That same subcontractor is allegedly undertaking the road rehabilitation of the national highway from the Moonwalk junction to Bigaa.
Bicol Goldrock has yet to start work on a road rehabilitation project awarded by the DPWH this 2025 at a cost of P219 million.
Meanwhile, GCI is undertaking three big projects: the P262.5 million drainage construction project along the circumferential road with a completion date of Oct. 16, 2024 but with an accomplishment of just 34 percent; the P140 million Batalay seawall in Bato which started last May 30, 2025 and with a current accomplishment of 34 percent; and an ongoing drainage construction project in Bato with a contract cost of P235 million with a completion date of April 2026.
The Tribune’s inquiry on the status of these projects went unanswered, with the DPWH citing a Sept. 11, 2025 memorandum issued by Secretary Vince Dizon regarding media interviews.
The memo stated that in view of recent developments and concerns, all requests for media interviews and official statements regarding the Department must be directed to the secretary’s office unless specific authority has been delegated.
“Officials who are approached by media on their personal capacity may respond as appropriate, provided that their statements do not represent the official position of the Department,” Sec. Dizon clarified.