Crooks have gone to the extent of hiding their substandard projects in obscure areas of the country, including in a place in Kalinga inhabited by indigenous people.
A member of the Daughter of the Whutwhut (Butbut) tribe asked Nosy Tarsee to sound the alarm on a non-existent bridge project that was supposed to replace the rickety Makilo Bailey Bridge in Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga that collapsed last Monday, 1 December.
Natty Balliwag Pallatoc Aguac Bayubay, who described herself as a chosen daughter of the tribe “not by birth but by honor and courage,” said it was her duty to speak for her people against the corruption affecting her tribe.
The old Bailey bridge located in Barangay Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga, which served as the only way in and out of the area, gave way after weeks of rain.
Years before it collapsed, the bridge was earmarked for replacement through the massive Makilo Bridge Replacement Project, a proposed 101.5-meter steel arch structure.
The replacement project was divided into two phases totaling a staggering P125 million (Phase 1 at P67.2-M and Phase 2 at P57.7-M).
Members of the tribe have publicly broken their silence, condemning the lack of transparency as a “betrayal” and demanding a full investigation.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on 10 November 2023, and a transparency board was constituted to list the contractors but up to now, there is no replacement bridge.
“Nothing was ever started — no digging, no materials delivered, and no foundations,” Bayubay said, strongly suggesting the allocated funds were tied to a “ghost project.”
The tribe’s representative said the project contracts were awarded to the EGB/JTM Joint Venture, with the second phase pushing through even after the Commission on Audit (CoA) flagged irregularities in Phase 1 that had not been started.
Bayubay expressed the tribe’s sentiment of the three lies that were committed that enabled corruption.
She described it as mizaru (see no evil), iwazaru (speak no evil), and kikazaru (hear no evil).
Indeed, these types of lies are amplified in several areas of the country, enabling the pervasive character of the corruption afflicting the nation.