TABUK, Kalinga — Civic group SAVE Kalinga Inc. has urged Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vivencio Dizon to conduct a thorough and extended inspection of public works projects in the province, instead of what it described as a “superficial” visit.
The appeal was contained in an open letter issued by the group’s president and co-founder, Natividad P. Bayubay, ahead of Dizon’s scheduled high-level site inspection, which will begin at Liwan West Elementary School in Rizal on Monday.
SAVE Kalinga raised concerns over the actual state of infrastructure projects funded by more than P6 billion in allocations in the province.
Based on what it described as independent civic audits, the group claimed there are significant discrepancies between official records and on-the-ground conditions. It alleged that while documents show a 95 percent completion rate for certain projects, actual physical accomplishment is closer to 45 percent.
The group called on the DPWH chief to allot sufficient time to assess the quality of construction work and examine possible use of substandard or unsafe materials.
It also urged a stricter audit of contractors, particularly a review of their active licenses, technical capacity, and track records, especially those repeatedly securing large-scale government contracts in the region.
SAVE Kalinga also raised concerns over the environmental impact of infrastructure projects, citing reported damage to rivers, mountains and other natural resources allegedly being affected in the name of development.
The group stressed that the multibillion-peso budget represents the safety and livelihood of residents and should not result in substandard public infrastructure.
It added that it has previously submitted formal letters, technical audit reports, and civic findings to the DPWH central office regarding the issues.
Bayubay said the community is closely monitoring the outcome of the inspection, adding that it should serve as a starting point for a deeper probe into possible system failures and accountability lapses among responsible parties.
