- Advertisement -

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .

TWO Quezon City-based construction companies that were awarded with multimillion-peso infrastructure projects in Misamis Oriental were among the contractors blacklisted by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar in 2018.

- Advertisement -

The companies — Edison Development and Construction, and Syndtite Construction Corp. — bagged two major road repair and upgrading projects in the province.

On one hand, Edison was tasked to undertake the repair and upgrading of the three-kilometer Initao-Kamelon-Sinalac provincial road in Initao town, Misamis Oriental.

Syndtite, on the other hand, won the P180.131-million project for the upgrading of the Baliwagan-Pelaez-Impakibil provincial road in Balingasag town, Misamis Oriental.

Villar blacklisted Edison, a firm with office address at 121 La Mariche Condominium, E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City, through Department Order 163 in 2018, for alleged violations in connection with a school building construction project in Dapa town in Surigao del Sur.

In 2016, Edison Development and Construction prominently figured in a government deal with a consortium for the maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3’s rolling stocks and signaling system. Edison is one of the companies that formed a consortium together with South Korea’s Busan Transport Corp..

Another DPWH order (Department Order 135), signed in August 2018, blacklisted Syndtite because of alleged violations in the construction of a flood-control system in Dugayong, Amulung, Cagayan, last year.

A 2018 report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) showed that Syndtite Construction Corp. used to be RC Tagala Construction, a firm that bagged P5.7 billion worth of government contracts during the first 18 months of the Duterte administration. The DPWH blacklisted it on Aug. 16, 2018.

Syndtite’s office address is 179 Australia st., Upper Banlat, Tandang Sora in Quezon City.

According to the PCIJ, RC Tagala, which subsequently became known as Syndtite, allegedly violated terms and conditions of its contract to build Phase 1 of Labo Bridge in Camarines Norte.

PCIJ also reported that the Camarines Norte District Engineering Office had terminated the contract year earlier on July 19, 2017, but it took DPWH 13 months to blacklist the firm. And then the firm re-registered as Syndtite Construction Corp..

RC Tagala however was in the consolidated list of blacklisted contractors of the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines as of March 31, 2017.

The same document revealed that the firm’s authorized managing officer is Rosano C. Tagala, and that it also had a project in Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon.

Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano said the capitol would look into the Initao and Balingasag projects, and see if the two companies followed the rules and complied with government requirements.

“Of course, we will have it investigated,” said Emano.

He said provincial legal officer Neil Pacana would go over the projects of Edison and Syndtite in Initao and Balingasag.

The capitol, he said, can also black list companies if they are found to have violated terms and conditions in their contracts.

The multimillion-peso road projects in Initao and Balingasag were funded by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) through its “Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces” program.

DILG regional director Arnel Agabe said the funds were downloaded to the capitol. He said the local governments were the ones who looked for the contractors.

Agabe declined to comment on Villar’s blacklisting of the two construction companies “kay unang una, wala may reklamo nga mi-abot sa akong opisina.”

Agabe however said he has ordered DILG officials in Misamis Oriental to look into the projects and see how the DPWH-blacklisted contractors ended up bagging multimillion-peso road projects in the province.

Disclaimer

Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.

- Advertisement -