Gov. Evardone, 3 bishops urge DPWH to act on road rehab in E. Samar

By BRYAN M. AZURA
December 13, 2008

BORONGAN CITY, Eastern Samar  –  Eastern Samar Governor Ben P. Evardone, together with the 3 bishops of the 3 dioceses in Samar Island, collectively urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to prod the winning contractor to immediately implement the P497 million worth road rehabilitation of the national roads in the province.

In the 9th meeting of the Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development (SIPPAD) held at the Capitol Conference Hall, Governor Evardone, Bishop Crispin Varquez of Borongan Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Trance of Catarman Diocese and Bishop Isabelo Abarquez of Calbayog City Diocese, chorused on urging Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. of DPWH to call the attention of Yakal Construction, the winning bidder of the road rehabilitation in Eastern Samar national roads, to make true to its promise to finish the project on or before the date of completion.

The worsening condition of the national roads in the province has long caught the ire of the commuting public and the villagers directly affected.

Recently, Bishop Varquez and 40 other priests in Eastern Samar wrote a letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) asking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to intervene in the implementation of the project. Titled ‘Eastern Samar’s Roads from Hell,’ Varquez made mention that the roads in the province are “chronic and, in some places, even dangerous. “We are informed that there are more than a million pesos in maintenance fund monthly,” Varquez wrote. “Yet all we see are splintered rocks and sand being used to cover ravaged roads, originally of asphalt or concrete overlay,” he continued.

Few days later, Atty. Byron Suyot, Chief-of-staff of the Office of the Governor (PGO), wrote another letter to the same media outfit saying that Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) has found out that part of the maintenance fund is being used to pay the salaries of casual employees and some expenditures of the Congressional District Office (CDO).

“This is highly anomalous,” Suyot said in his letter. The lawyer further said that the DPWH District Office is “controlled” by the congressman. “It is the congressman who dictates on who will be assigned as district engineer. It is widely believed that it is the congressman who decides on major issues in the DPWH District Office, such as hiring and promotion of regular and casual employees, and the determination of winning bidders of contracts, among others,” he continued.

Engineer Atilano Sabulao, Acting Administrative Officer and DPWH representative to the said forum, apparently washing hands, said that DPWH should not be blamed on the current bad road conditions as it has already been awarded to a contractor. “Our role here is just to make the roads passable,” Sabulao said.

Judge Reynaldo Alconaba, one of the participants of the SIPPAD forum, challenged the DPWH to be “honest and report the real things that are happening in their office.”

“If we need to replace the District Engineer and the contractor, why not do so, if only to start the rehabilitation of the road,” Judge Alconaba opined.

Governor Evardone reiterated that while the rehabilitation of the national highway is the sole responsibility of DPWH, acting upon a separate resolutions passed by the Provincial Disaster and Coordinating Council, League of Municipalities, Provincial Development Council and Sanguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial government allocated an initial amount of P10 million to repair the national road.

On April 15, this year, Governor Evardone sent a letter to DPWH asking permission to help repair of the national highway using its fleet of heavy equipment but the latter did not reply the former. Following his request, he sent another letter to the same office on May 8, this year, but still nothing happened.

Provincial Engineer Dindo Picardal reported to the body that the province offered DPWH to work on the roads at a cost of P5 million per 1.1 kilometers, much cheaper than that of DPWH’s P18 million per 1 kilometer.

However, Atty. Suyot, citing reliable sources said that Eastern Samar’s Lone District Congressman (Teodulo Coquilla) blocked the request of the governor for political reasons.

“In short, the congressman is not serious in helping repair the the national highway,” Suyot said in his letter.

Alconaba said that DPWH should be honest. “It is already a public knowledge that DPWH is being controlled by the Congressman,” he said.

Asked as to who appoints on who will be sitting in District Engineering Office, Engr. Sabulao answered that it is the central office that appoints but with recommending approval. He did not elaborate who makes the recommending approval.

In a hearing conducted by the SP, Engineer Natividad revealed that the P1.3 million maintenance funds is being used to pay the salaries and casuals in the Office of the Congressman.

Bishop Trance noted that somebody has to be accountable for the (P1.2M) maintenance fund as the transactions regarding maintenance is to be addressed to the maintenance section.