• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been asked to probe the P306 million in flood control projects, which were supposedly implemented in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, by three contractors from northern Luzon.
Mayor Renato Gustilo, who asked the NBI to investigate the matter, said he and even the local Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are not aware of such flood control projects being implemented in San Carlos City, by three contractors outside of Negros.
Gustilo made the clarification after he received a letter and documents from the DPWH central office asking if such projects had already been implemented and completed.
Gustilo said his signature, and that of Engr. Rodney Flores, which were in the certificates of Completion and Acceptance, were forged, and in addition, Flores was wrongly designated as City Engineer.
While flood control projects were implemented in San Carlos City, Gustilo said it was undertaken by contractors in Bacolod City, under the DPWH engineering district.
Based on the documents he received from DPWH central office, Gustilo said the suspicious projects include the P151.5 million flood control project at Palampas River in Brgy. 1, San Carlos City, supposedly undertaken by A.P.O. General Construction from the Mountain Province; P77.5 million flood control project in Ando-on River, Brgy. Poblacion, San Carlos City, allegedly handled by E.K.C Construction and Aggregates from Benguet and P77.3 million flood control project in Jigalaman River, Brgy Guadalupe, in San Carlos City, undertaken by Jaben General Contracting and Engineering Services from Benguet.
Based on the investigation of the DPWH District Office, the mayor said they denied the existence of such projects allegedly being implemented by the three contractors.
Gustilo said he already wrote a letter to the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the flood control projects allegedly implemented in San Carlos City.
In his letter to NBI chief Jaime Santiago, Gustilo said the foregoing projects are, without any iota of doubt, “ghost projects.”
He stressed that the San Carlos City government never entered into a contract with the three contractors, who are not included in the official registry of suppliers/ contractors maintained by the city government of San Carlos.
There is no existing record pertaining to the construction of flood control at Ando-on, Jigalaman, and Palampas Rivers, all in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Gustilo further said.
These anomalous ghost projects involving millions, or even billions of pesos, perpetrated by the DPWH personnel in cahoots with unscrupulous contractors must be thoroughly investigated so that those responsible will be flushed out and be held accountable, the mayor stressed.*
