BAGUIO CITY – Irisan punong barangay Arthur Carlos broke his silence over the controversial construction of the multi-million multipurpose center that will house its barangay hall, saying that the barangay council never requested for revisions of the program of work that caused the serious delays in the completion of the project.
In a radio interview aired over a local broadcast network, Carlos pointed out that it is unfair that the barangay council is being blamed by some local officials for the delays in the completion of the project because there was no request that emanated from the barangay officials.
He underscored that had the PhP17 million that formed part of the earlier PhP50 million allocated for the project had not been returned to the national coffers because of the findings and recommendations from the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding alleged flaws in the implementation of the project, their multipurpose center would have been completed last year.
The Irisan punong barangay alleged that the problems lies with the city government and not their request for revision of the program of work because no such request emanated from them contrary to what had been publicly pronounced by some local officials.
According to him, the barangay also wants to raise an issue whether or not there was really a soil test conducted prior to the implementation of the project because when the contractor started working, it was discovered that the area has been backfilled, thus, heavy excavation work had to be done until the solid part of the site was reached to ensure the stable foundation.
On the other hand, sources from the Department of Public works and Highways disclosed there had been no approved variation of the project that would have incorporated the requests of the barangay since there are no revisions on the program of work that should have first been approved by the agency before implementation of the works.
Instead of a supposed three-storey structure based on the approved program of work, the Irisan multipurpose center has now four stories that include two basements and two stories above ground.
The controversial construction of the Irisan multipurpose building prompted Councilor Maria Mylen Victoria G. Yaranon to spearhead the filing of graft charges against city officials led by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong for grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service which is now pending investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Carlos appealed to local officials not to use the barangay council as their scapegoat to shield themselves from the controversies surrounding the implementation of the project because the barangay council never submitted requests for revision of the program of work for the inclusion of their proposals as the same never happened in the first place.
The project is nearing completion but there are still some works that must be accomplished by the contractor so that the barangay could already occupy the structure for the benefit of better services for their constituents.
