TABUK CITY, Kalinga – With their pleas for action on the mess the P425M World Bank-funded rehabilitation of the Upper Chico River Irrigation System (UCRIS) has developed into ignored by then President Benigno Aquino III, the Senate and the WB itself, two prominent organizations here had asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a probe to pinpoint liability for the damage incurred by UCRIS farmers in June.
After waiting for almost three months, the Kalinga and Apayao Religious Sector Association (KARSA) and the Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) finally saw someone responding when the COA Cordillera sent a team to start the probe on September 8.
However, the process started awkwardly because Heideliza Cabanlong, leader of the COA-National Irrigation Administration-Cordillera audit team, announced to the representatives of the two organizations at the start of their meeting that the team came to verify the organizations’ complaint of “corrupt practices of NIA officials.”
The complainants pointed out that they did not mention corruption in their letter.
Cabanlog then explained that that was what was contained in the letter of the COA central a copy of which she did not bring. She said that the COA central may have misquoted the complaint.
Cabanlog informed the complainants that the purpose of their investigation is just the implementation of the repair of the washout of the UCRIS worth P100M because that is what was paid by the NIA Cordillera and the UCRIS rehabilitation funded by the WB is under the jurisdiction of their national office.
Adolph Bravo of the Upper Chico River Irrigation System Federation of Irrigators’ Associations commented that the COA should exclude corruption from the purpose of its probe on the washout repair but look into violations and the quality of the work instead.
The organizations had pointed out in their letter that the washout repair had failed only five months after construction entailing another six weeks of water cut off to give way to the repair to the inconvenience of the farmers.
Cabanlog said that she will come up with her report on the case the moment the technical investigation will be conducted by their office on the repair of the washout.
She suggested to the complainants to write a follow up to the COA Cordillera for the conduct of the technical investigation because, according to her, whenever she reminds their technical investigators of the case, the latter say they have their hands full.
She also suggested to the complainants that they follow up the investigation of the P425 M rehabilitation project with the COA central to hasten the process.
She said that COA Cordillera has already sent an initial report to the COA central and they may now be digging into their records.
In answer to the question of the complainants as to how come the NIA did not terminate the services of the Markbilt Construction/RD Policarpio and Co. Inc., contractor of the rehabilitation project, when its negative slippage had exceeded 60 percent and the negative slippage allowed by law is only 15 percent, Cabanlog asked how COA could act on the matter when the documents for the payments of the project have not reached the COA.
The complainants had said that had the NIA terminated the contract of Markbilt Construction/RD Policarpio and Co. Inc. and the job given to another contractor when its negative slippage exceeded what is allowed by law, the washout which took place during typhoon Ineng on August 21, 2015 and which resulted in the lost cropping would not have happened.
The added that neither would the NIA have spent P100M to repair the washout.
KARSA Chairman Claudio Bagano commented that instead of benefitting UCRIS farmers, due to the incompetence and irresponsibility of the contractor and the failure of the NIA to act on the same, the WB project had caused the intended beneficiaries P1B loss in unrealized harvest, the NIA had to spend P100M for unnecessary repair and part of the WB will now be returned.
Due to the repair of the washout, the farmers could not plant in the second cropping of 2015.
Kalinga Irrigation Management Officer Benito Espique who was present informed that the second extension of the contract of the Markbilt Construction/RD Policarpio and Co. Inc. lapsed on June 2, 2016 with the accomplishment standing at 46 percent. The original contract lapsed in December 22, 2015.
Espique said that if the NIA does not grant the pending request of the contractor for another extension, whatever part of the WB loan is left could no longer be used for the project and the NIA would take over the completion of the project on a gradual basis due to the limited funds of the agency.
Espique told the group that in May 2015, his office had recommended the termination of the contractor because it had become apparent that it did not have the capacity to undertake the project but the NIA leadership did not act on their recommendation.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
