BAGUIO CITY – An anti-crime and corruption watchdog wants the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct an honest to goodness audit of the various transactions of the Cordillera office of the Department of Public works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) this year which had been the alleged source of blatant and unstoppable corruption.
In a letter sent to COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo, the Cordillera chapter of the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW-CAR) identified the projects to be audited such as the construction and improvement of tourism road leading to Mogao mountain and Gawaan lake, Tadian, Mountain Province phase I, 2, 3 and 4 considering that the project which started six years ago remains uncompleted to date.
The CCW-CAR alleged that the project’s second phase which started 3 years ago went around 8 kilometers way from Mogao Mountain and Gawaan lake and improve the road away from the tourist spots and the same has not been actually completed to date.
Further, the bidding of the fourth phase of the project was allegedly done through simulated fixed bid, thus, an honest to goodness auditing on the items of work will prove that some are to fix the obvious substandard and destroyed accomplishments of the previous phases which should have been repaired by the contractors at their own expense.
The group alleged that the fourth phase of the alleged questionable project will be implemented by the same contractors who half hazardly worked on the previous phases.
On the other hand, the watchdog claimed that an honest to goodness audit of all the DPWH-Car projects along Talubin-Barlig-Natonin-Paracelis road will prove that some projects have allegedly long been abandoned but the same were not terminated because the contractor was actually used by some untouchable local contractors who cornered numerous projects that were bidded out in the previous years aside from the fact that the winning contractor was a bad performer in all the awarded projects regionwide.
Moreover, some projects of another contractor have expired contracts and incurred negative slippages that supposed to have merited termination and that there were numerous alleged host projects in Paracelis and Natonin with the use of maintenance funds.
The group disclosed that two schoolbuildings were reported to have been completed two years ago but factually, the same were just 50 percent completed and the contract lapsed a long time ago but Isican Construction was awarded new big contracts in November and December 2017.
The COA was also asked to audit the employment on contractual basis of 7 lawyers in the guise for them working for road-right-of-way problems but in truth and in fact, their job was allegedly to prepare answers and manifestations on numerous complaints against the erring officials of the DPWH-CAR.
The CCW-CAR stated that why has been the COA deaf and blind on the alleged glaring and unstoppable corruption in the agency which had already been forwarded to the Commission prior to the filing of the similar complaint and why is the COA afraid of incumbent DPWH officials.
By HENT
