Sabangan, Mountain Province– Tired of hearing many complaints from their constituents , the Sangguniang Bayan(SB) members of the Municipal Local Government Unit of Sabangan, Mountain Province passed a second resolution last May 19, 2017 fervently following up their initial request for the Department of Public Works and Highways(DPWH) to expedite the completion of the Sabangan Jumbo Bridge Located at Nacagan, Tambingan, Sabangan, Mountain Province which is now gaining popularity due to its long delayed completion since its construction started 4 years ago. Such has been the subject of unpleasant comments specially in the social media, and this time it is being coursed through the Office of the President.
As per record of the Sangguniang Bayan Office, The SB members of this Local Government Unit have passed a resolution and submitted it to the DPWH secretary, Hon. Mark A. Villar, through the Office of the Mountain Province District Engineering Office(MPDEO) sometime in December 6, 2016, respectfully appealing for the completion of the bridge to be expedited. To the dismay of the SB members, there was no reply coming from the Office of the DPWH nor from the MPDEO which is very unusual. The SB members are wondering what went wrong or what happened to their request because as per Republic act 6713 establishing the code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees that it is the duty of public officials and employees to respond within 15 days which must contain any action they have taken.
According to Theodore M. Velasco, SB Legal Research Officer, the MPDEO has not given the SB members any feedback. “As a standard operating procedure, the MPDEO should have notified the SB members if they have forwarded the resolution or have thrown it in the waste can labeled “nabubulok” or could have just simply informed through text message if they are too busy with their roadworks,” Velasco added.
The Nacagang Bridge was abandoned by the contractor and had kept the constituents of Sabangan and daily commuters asking themselves whatever happened. The land owners were rumored to have stopped the project but then they have publicly posted in the area and even in social media that there is no problem on the Road Right of Way and the problem lies with the DPWH and the poor performance of the contractor. ** Gabriel Moguet