BAGUIO CITY – Six Cordillera Congressmen requested the immediate reassignment and transfer of the current regional director of the Cordillera Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR), Engr. Tiburcio L. Canlas, to other areas of assignment and the assignment of a new regional director of the agency to ensure the smooth implementation of programmed infrastructure projects in the region that will result to the improved state of infrastructure in the localities.
In their letter addressed to Public works Secretary Mark Villar which was recently released to the media, Abra Rep. Joseph Sto. Niño Bernos, Apayao Rep. Elias C. Bulut, Jr., the late Benguet Rep. Nestor B. Fongwan, Sr., Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao, Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog, Jr. and Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang sought the Secretary’s kind indulgence to hear their unified plea and request for the immediate reshuffling of the current DPWH-CAR regional director elsewhere and the assignment of a new regional director in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
“The reason for our plea and request stemmed from the fact that the present regional director could not serve the best interest of the region as evidenced by the fact that he could not address the concerns of each of the separate provinces effectively. Much as we would like to cooperate and work with him in the interest of the Cordillera as a whole, taking into consideration the provincial and district concerns of each of the provinces, we believe that he fell short of our expectations, without many words to spare, we have lost our trust and confidence with him to work for the best interest of the region as a whole,” the letter, which was not signed by Baguio City Rep. Mark Go, stated.
The aforesaid letter was signed by the concerned lawmakers on September 10, 2019 supposedly to be an eye opener for the involved DPWH-CAR official but nothing actually improved on the way the agency was run, thus, the lawmakers were constrained to have the same stamped receive in the Office of Secretary Villar on January 30, 2020.
The unified position of the Cordillera Lawmakers was bolstered by the complaints received by the individual solons on alleged controversies that had been surrounding the conduct of public bidding of funded infrastructure projects, award of projects, among others that caused disunity among the Cordillerans over the past several months.
Canlas assumed his position as DPWH-CAR regional director sometime in September 2018 after the implementation of a reshuffle among the agency’s heads of offices that saw former DPWH-CAR regional director Engr. Nerie Bueno reassigned to Eastern Visayas.
However, DPWH-CAR insiders expressed surprise on why was the issue between the Cordillera Congressman and the sitting Director revived when they are now in good talking terms after their conflicts were allegedly patched up.
While it was true that there was somewhat a slight miscommunication between the Cordillera Congressmen and the DPWH-CAR Director from July to September last year because of the election of new lawmakers from the region, the source disclosed that it took some time for the period of adjustment between them but the same was resolved and that their miscommunication was patched up.
By Dexter A. See
