Palawan Second Engineering District on Tuesday, May 19, denied the allegations entailed in the construction of Malampaya-funded projects in Southern Palawan.

During the Provincial Board’s questioning, Engr. Mario Soriano of the Second Engineering District refuted statements accusing them of mismanagement in the southern infrastructure projects.

Soriano, chief of the construction section in the district, was mentioned by Engr. Antonio Escala in his affidavit as the one who pressured him to “exaggerate the accomplishment reports” and who was knowledgeable in all the anomalous practices in the second engineering district.

“I always visit the projects, and since I saw that the remaining activities of the contractor would be finished before the contract expires, we reported that as 100 percent complete,” Soriano explained, adding that they have to submit a progress report to the office every 22nd of the month.

He also mentioned that the report does not guarantee the contractor to be automatically paid, as claimed by Escala. Soriano said the contractor has to prepare certain requirements and will go through various processes such as quantity determination and validation of completed work before they can issue a billing.

Soriano said there were inspectors who assess the projects and monitor the performance of the contractors. Depending on the findings, the contractor has to comply with the corrections before they can be paid, Soriano claimed.

“The contractor cannot be paid in full unless they have completed the corrections,” he stated, adding that they only received the assessment report on May 11 and that it would take the contractor not more than two months in preparing the requirements.

Escala, in his affidavit, mentioned that Soriano reported the projects as complete “to help the contractors collect their progress billing in full even though (the projects were) not yet fully completed.”

Soriano related that the progress reports stating projects to be complete were signed by Escala as project engineer.

“The three remaining projects were not yet certified by Engr. Escala as completed. The other three, were already certified,” he said.

During the previous Board’s questioning where Escala was present, he said he did not sign any of the reports. Soriano, however, showed the Provincial Board documents stating projects as completed, signed by Escala.

Out of the six projects Escala mentioned in his affidavit, three were already completed and fully-paid last year. Soriano concluded that Escala might have mistaken the remaining three unfinished projects to be fully-paid already.

“The fact that the three projects have not been fully-paid may have substantiated Engr. Escala’s allegations that we exaggerated the accomplishment report to help the contractor collect (payments),” Soriano explained.

Material testing

Escala also claimed in his affidavit that the materials used in all six P20-million projects in Quezon did not undergo material and quality testing.

Engr. Dominador Alonzabe, chief of materials quality control system of the second engineering district, denied Escala’s allegation. The Department of Public Works and Highways, according to him, has a policy that all materials incorporated in infrastructure projects shall be tested.

“We don’t have a project engineer who allows contractors to use untested materials,” Alonzabe said. “In fact, the project engineer justifies that all materials used in the projects were tested in accordance with the certification,” he continued.

Alonzabe showed the Provincial Board a certificate of quality control assurance signed by Escala and a certain Engr. Uy as the project material inspector.

The certification stated that “the materials used conformed with the requirements of the projects.”

Alonzabe went on explaining that as the project engineer, Escala certifies all the projects under him.

“If he was saying that we falsified the (material) test, that would mean he did not sign the certificate of quality control assurance,” Alonzabe stated.

“Face-off”

The Provincial Board set another question and answer hour between the parties involved.

“We invited for a special session to concentrate on this issue. Engr. Soriano and Engr. Escala might come,” Board Member Gil Acosta said, adding that a “face-off” might reveal more issues concerning the projects funded by the province’s share from the Malampaya gas operations.

Board Member Joselito Cadlaon, in an interview, said that the Board wanted to know the truth.

“If Engr. Escala has a concrete evidence to support his allegations, this issue should not be discussed here in the Provincial Board. This should be brought directly to the Ombudsman,” Cadlaon stated.

A special session, scheduled on May 27, would focus on the affidavit of Engr. Escala and the explanation of the Second Engineering District. The Board would also probe on another set of sworn statements issued by three contractors also concerning Malampaya-funded projects.