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Thursday, March 04, 2004
Espinoza: Delay in Naga-Uling road repair
By Elias L. Espinoza
MESSY. There is nothing new with the way the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) manage the maintenance and repair of national roads.
The gripes of Manny Rabacal of the Regional Development Council (RDC) on the delay in the rehabilitation of the Naga-Uling road that links Toledo City and the southwestern towns have valid basis.
Lack of funds to pay the road-right-of-way acquisition allegedly caused the delay in the execution of the repair of the Naga-Uling road that will cost the government more than half-billion pesos.
The DPWH allegedly needs P10 million to pay off the landowners affected by the road improvement. The DPWH officials are taking shelter on the alleged unavailability of the fund for the road-right-of-way acquisition.
It was unfortunate, though, for the DPWH officials that Rabacal uncovered that while the DPWH spent P70 million for the palliative repair of the south road when it was due for a major rehabilitation but it failed to provide the P10 million to pay for the road right-of-way.
Rabacal should also understand that they will make more in the P70 million palliative repair of the road than the P10 million they are going to pay the landowners of the
road-right-of-way acquisition.
If my memory serves me right, the DPWH is good at spending money in big amounts but of little significance, like patching of potholes that don’t even last for three months after the elections.
Imagine, P70 million worth of people’s money just went down the drain since the minor repair it executed on the South Road banished in thin air when the same agency implemented a major repair on the same road.
It was simply baloney for the DPWH officials here to say that it has no P10 million to pay for the road right-of-way. Can they explain to the public how and where they got the P70 million for the temporary repair of the road?
So, what has the Commission on Audit (COA), the supposed guardian of public funds, done to protect our dwindling funds from the indiscriminate and wasteful spending by this government agency?
SPLIT? Rumors are widespread that the relationship between Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and Vice Mayor Norma Patalinjug, who are both reelectionists under the same party, are getting sour.
Councilor Corazon Ouano, who was once a partymate of the city mayor, is challenging the reelection bid of Radaza. Ouano severed ties with the city mayor due to some personal differences.
Ouano, whose runningmate for vice mayor is lawyer Manuel Degolacion Jr., is the official bet of Lakas-CMD in Lapu-Lapu City. The Lakas bets, though, are considered the underdog in the May 10 polls.
The possibility that Patalinjug will run for mayor even if she already filed her certificate of candidacy for vice mayor under the party with the city mayor is not remote.
I was reliably informed that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is coming out with a resolution that will allow candidates to shift party or elective positions in the last minute prior to election day.
A reliable source told me that Patalinjug was irked with the report that Radaza was allegedly meeting and seeking alliance with one of the scions of the late former mayor Jun Weigel.
In fact, my source said, Radaza and Patalinjug allegedly had an altercation on this issue. If not patched up soon, my source said, Patalinjug might run for mayor against Radaza.
According to another source, Ouano’s party welcomes the development and they are allegedly willing to give in to the vice mayor as their mayoralty bet and standard-bearer.
The same source said Councilor Ouano is willing to slide down to vice mayor while Atty. Degolacion is also more than willing to relinquish his quest for the vice mayoralty post to Ouano.
If this happens, the reelection bid of Radaza seems to be in serious doubt. After the late Weigel, Patalinjug is considered to be one of the strongest contenders in the mayoralty race in this Island City.
(March 4, 2004 issue)
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