Iloilo’s biggest shame in 2022

By Alex P. Vidal

“Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.”— Karl Kraus

THE biggest scandal in Iloilo in 2022 does not involve public officials caught with their hands in the cookie jar for there was not a single known earthshaking expose made by investigative journalists; no more opposition firebrands in the local legislature willing to slug it out with capitol and city hall and capable of risking their political future fighting the political behemoths and dynasties.

It’s the P680-million Ungka II flyover project linking Jaro, Iloilo City and Pavia, Iloilo now facing uncertainty after being “temporarily closed” on September 18, 2022 due to “strange structural” behaviors.

Much has been written about this scandalous project by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and it’s hard not to be infuriated as taxpayers since the money involved in the project was so colossal if not astronomical.

It could feed and shelter thousands of destitute residents if shifted into social welfare program, or build hundreds of school rooms and even public schools if spent in education. It could help finance the training of future world class athletes from the region if appropriated in sports program.

The flyover was done, in fairness to the contractor. At least it was not a “ghost” project like the P728 million fertilizer scam of Jocjoc Bolante during the Arroyo presidency.

At least there’s a physical evidence of any infamy if the contractor and other involved parties will fail to remedy the situation.

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But the contractor has a lot of explaining to do here. It cannot escape scrutiny and accountability since the fund for this unique project had already been released according to the public works project bids and award system.

If the money was not properly handled in this project and went only to the pockets of several corrupt individuals, it’s a total shame and a gigantic disgrace especially if members of the Houses of Representatives will not lift a finger to probe this brouhaha that made headlines and was reported prominently in the national media.

So sad that we are about to bid adieu to 2022 and will wake up soon in 2023, yet not a single word was heard from any member of the House of Representatives to at least give assurance to the public that they will soon take up the matter in a formal inquiry.

Even before the Pavia Sangguniang Bayan endorsed a resolution calling for a House inquiry to be led by Iloilo solons, the story was already a veritable hot cake nationwide. Thus any solon should have volunteered to investigate the issue motu proprio even without any formal request from any local legislative body.

Are they beholden to the contractor who is reportedly known to be a big election campaign donor?

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WIRELESS EYES. A team of MIT researchers has entered the race to develop an implant that can restore partial vision to the blind. Unlike other implants under development, MIT’s system does not place electrodes directly on the retina, which can damage the eye during implantation. Instead, the device stimulates nerves near the eyeball that carry visual information to the brain.

LISTENING TO LEAVES. Western Washington University geophysicists are making localized air-pollution maps by tracking the magnetism of three leaves. Car and some industrial pollution contains particles of magnetic iron oxide that stick to the leaves, making them magnetic.

WARNING: There is an international boom industry in anti-aircraft missiles and warplanes that are designed to defeat U.S. stealth technology. Source: Popular Mechanics.

Conventional radar ranges are increasing, and that’s just the start of the problem. Over-the-horizon radar can detect airplanes by bouncing signals off the ionosphere, 56 miles above Earth, while passive radar can provide enemies with rough tracks of an airplane’s location, direction and altitude.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)