By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
A FORMER governor yesterday called for an investigation into his hometown’s controversial town hall construction project that has been marred by delays.
Former governor Antonio Calingin asked Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, Rep. Juliette Uy of the province’s 2nd District, the Commission on Audit (COA), and the Office of the Ombudsman to start looking into the P34-million project after the town’s officials threatened to cancel the contract awarded to E.M Paule Construction due to work delays.
He said the province’s officials should step in given that the project has been showing signs of wrongdoing, pointing out that the target date of completion has lapsed, and barangay officials and residents have been airing all sorts of suspicions as a result of the construction delays.
Before serving as the province’s governor, Calingin was mayor of Claveria town.
Calingin called the project “palasyo sa pangurakot og pangawkaw,” adding that the undertaking was merely a reflection of what Claveria has become in the last nine years.
He said he found out that the firm that bagged the award had figured in a case about an unfinished project of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Mauz, Nueva Ecija. He said the case reached the Supreme Court.
Calingin said civil society groups in Claveria, including dominant Roman Catholic groups, should do their share by holding town officials accountable.
Earlier, Claveria Vice Mayor Meraluna Salvaleon-Abrogar said the town’s officials conducted a series of meetings over the slow pace of the construction work at Zone 2, Barangay Poblacion.
Abrogar said Mayor Redentor Salvaleon wanted to terminate the contract but the town council insisted on “due process.”
Based on the Commission on Audit’s public notice, the new municipal hall project began on Jan. 25, 2015 and was supposed to have been completed this Jan. 16.
The target completion date was later moved to March 30 due to the need for some “corrections” like the filling up and the leveling of slopes in the construction site by a subcontractor.
Calingin said Barangay Poblacion chairman Moises Macabasa is among the village officials vocal about the project.
“Inutang ang pagpatukod niini unya ang katawhan sa Claveria gihapon ang magbayad,” he said.
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