It also wants to declare persona non grata officials who are proven to be involved in the delay of projects in the province, particularly the unfinished road project on UN Avenue in Mandaue City.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia made the announcements on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 14, 2022.
Capitol legal consultants and officials explained the basis for filing criminal and administrative charges against the agency, which includes the Provincial Government’s belief that it is necessary for the project to be completed despite the ongoing legal dispute with the Leyte-based BM Marketing.
The DPWH 7 terminated its contract with the contractor in 2019 after accusing BM Marketing of falsifying its track record, which the latter denied.
However, lawyers Rory John Sepulveda, Bret Monsanto and Donato Villa pointed out that the solicitor general had given the DPWH 7 legal advice to continue the project.
“Clearly the advice was follow the injunction despite the fact that (the) solicitor general said, as the lawyer of DPWH 7, we are preparing also the petition to question… That is why were quite surprised when we found out all of these and, mind you, we found out all of these not easily because the oral presentations made by DPWH are contrary to these. They were always claiming that, ‘No, it was terminated. The solicitor general advised us that it has been terminated. We cannot continue…’” Sepulveda said.
Earlier, Garcia intervened when she saw the unfinished project bothering motorists and tourists coming from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and going to Metro Cebu and other parts of the province.
She said the delay in the project’s completion has greatly inconvenienced the public and has given tourists a bad impression of Cebu.
“As governor of this province of Cebu, I will take legal action against all those responsible for this continuing imposition upon the Cebuano public causing untold inconvenience, misery, a black mark on Cebu’s image, and economic negative consequences,” Garcia said.
“Subsequently, let us study the personalities involved who have done the most damage to the Cebuanos and proceed with declaring them persona non grata here in our One Cebu Island. I will request Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Ahong Chan and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to give us as well the projects that have been abandoned by the DPWH so that these will further strengthen our position that the persons responsible shall be declared persona non grata,” the governor added.
Because of this, the Capitol will file a case against DPWH 7 related to graft and corrupt practices and the agency’s other liabilities to the public.
Businessmen agreed on the need to speed up work on the road.
“The unfinished road works at the intersection of Plaridel St. and UN Avenue should be addressed urgently,” said Kelie Ko, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). “Not only does it cause traffic, it is also such an eyesore. It is discouraging to know that this is the first and last thing that most tourists who fly in to Cebu would see. It’s bad for our image and thus bad for business.”
Steven Yu, immediate past president of MCCI, called on the unfinished road project in UN Avenue to be “repaired soonest and without delay for the best interests of all Sugbuanons, especially since we were the first to open our island to inbound tourism and it serves as the role model of many other cities and provinces.”
“We appreciate the efforts of Gov. Gwen to fast-track the repair because the overall economic benefit to Cebu island is unquestionably huge and we are also fighting for more tourism revenues ahead of other countries as everyone starts to reopen. Tourism is one of the major sources of livelihood for our island economy, benefiting millions of people,” Yu said.
Last November, the governor said the Provincial Government would shoulder the cost of asphalting the 100-meter junction road on UN Avenue. She later took it back, saying she would wait for the DPWH 7 and the contractor to settle their differences.
On Dec. 6, DPWH 7 Planning and Design Division Chief Nonato Paylado said their central office had allocated P13 million to repair the dilapidated road near the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.
Despite the court litigation, Paylado said the DPWH 7 can conduct repairs since the status of the road has already caused inconvenience to the riding public.
In September 2019, SunStar Cebu reported that the underpass and road widening projects at UN Avenue in Mandaue City were only about 10 percent complete.
The first phase of the build stage was road widening that started on July 23, 2018.
The contract was awarded in December 2017, and the P711.8 million underpass and road widening projects had been expected to be completed on Aug. 24, 2020.
In that report, then DPWH 7 director Edgar Tabacon said the process of terminating the projects’ contract that had been awarded to Leyte-based BM Marketing had contributed to the projects’ delay.
The DPWH central office had moved to cancel the projects’ contract after it discovered that BM Marketing reportedly claimed that it was involved in completing a large private road project in Eastern Visayas, and yet the DPWH could not find that road.
After the DPWH 7 sent BM Marketing a letter, telling the latter about the central office’s order to terminate its contract with the agency, BM Marketing filed a petition for injunction in a Mindoro court. It questioned the termination notice because the DPWH failed to send a report that verifies its allegation against the firm.
On Wednesday, BM and DPWH officials could not be reached for comment. (PJB)