Iloilo City councilor seeks docs before probing projects

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Iloilo City Councilor Johnny Young, chair of the Sangguniang Panglungsod’s Engineering and Public Works Committee, said they will wait for the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) to explain the materials used in two city-funded projects before deciding whether to launch a formal investigation.

Young told the media he has already requested documents from the CEO related to the PHP 4.1 million roofing project on Diversion Road and a waiting shed in Barangay Katilingban, Molo district, which cost PHP 798,525.47.

He said a formal inquiry would depend on whether the documents can justify the contract prices of the two projects.

“I’m not a contractor [nor] an engineer, so I cannot conclude if the price [of the projects] is overpriced, because there may be expensive materials and there are those we can consider as cheap, that’s why we can’t conclude if they are overpriced,” Young said.

“We’re just going to get their side first and look at the documents they submitted. If we see that [the price] is justifiable, I don’t think we should still call for an investigation,” he added.

Young said the projects may have been funded through the city’s revolving fund, which would mean they were not subject to prior committee approval.

“I have no idea if the overpass [roofing] went through the city council. That’s why we are asking for their explanation,” he said.

“We also don’t know the source of funds for the waiting shed in Katilingban or whose project that is.”

“The city government has a general fund, so maybe they got [the funding] from there, so there’s no need for prior approval from the council,” he added.

The Engineering and Public Works Committee is one of four city council panels forming the “quad-committee” tasked with looking into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.

The overpass roofing and waiting shed projects have come under public scrutiny due to allegations that they were overpriced compared to similar government-funded structures in Iloilo City and the province.

Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu said on Monday, Oct. 6, that the two projects are now under review by the CEO.