In Barangay Cabaroan, in Ilocos Norte, what rises from the river is not a bridge but a row of concrete foundations, an outcome that exposes deep flaws in how a P28.46-million public works project was planned, packaged, and rolled out in a district represented by Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos.

Contract 25AA0294, officially titled Construction of Cabaroan–Libnaoan Bridge, covers only 10 sets of bored pile foundations. The works were completed and paid for. Still, they delivered no crossing, no access, and no immediate benefit to the residents who continue to ford the river or take a detour to reach the next barangay.

On the ground, exposed columns and steel reinforcement are embedded in the riverbed. There is no deck, no span, and no approach road, only a substructure intended to support a future bridge that does not yet exist.

Bridge can’t be crossed

Under the Government Procurement Policy Board’s rules, infrastructure projects may be implemented in stages. Still, programming is intended to either deliver a usable portion or clearly demonstrate assured continuity toward a functional facility.

In this case, the foundations-only phase delivers zero public utility. Available documents reviewed by DAILY TRIBUNE do not identify a succeeding contract, a timetable, or a multi-year funding authority that would guarantee when the actual bridge deck and approaches will be built.

DPWH-linked sources said the project is part of a multi-year plan. One source said the indicative budget for Phase 2 — covering the superstructure and approaches — could reach around P50 million, with 2026 as the target year. No public document, however, confirms the funding, nor does any show that it has been programmed or secured. The source called it a “confidential document.”

Funds out, certainty absent

Records showed the contractor, North Tech Builders and Construction Supply, has received about P25.6 million, or roughly 90 percent of the contract amount, with standard retention accounting for the balance.

DPWH officials maintain the contractor delivered in accordance with the contract specifications.

The larger question, however, is whether a project procured and presented as a bridge should have been broken into a foundations-only package without publicly demonstrating continuity to completion, an outcome procurement safeguards were designed to prevent.

Political links sharpen scrutiny

Scrutiny has intensified because of the contractor’s political connections.

An earlier investigation by Rappler identified North Tech as the third-largest DPWH contractor in Piddig, Ilocos Norrte, since 2016, with P72.3 million worth of projects in the town. The firm is owned by Maribeth Salazar, wife of Piddig Vice Mayor Edwin Salazar and sister-in-law of Eddie Guillen.

Guillen is the current administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), having been appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. His office has denied any involvement in the procurement, citing the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) decentralized bidding process.

Governance analysts cited by Rappler noted that conflicts of interest do not always appear in signatures, particularly when contractors linked to political families repeatedly secure projects in their own jurisdictions.

Not illegal, yet deeply flawed

There is no clear evidence that procurement rules were violated in the contract award. But policy weaknesses are harder to ignore.

A project bid out and labeled as a bridge delivered only the substructure, produced no usable portion, and now points to a much larger follow-on cost to complete what residents believed they were already getting.

The Cabaroan–Libnaoan project is officially recognized. It is not fictitious. But it is also not a bridge. What stands instead is a costly first act, with the ending deferred to another year, another budget, and another set of approvals.