There is an explosive debate brewing in Eastern Visayas, one that is fought in the halls of the House of Representatives.
The protagonists are Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre. For disclosure, Gomez is the representative of the 4th district of Leyte, based in Ormoc City while Acidre represents Tingog party-list… the party drug of the rich and famous, run by the wife of Speaker Martin Romualdez, with an amazing capacity to distribute cash or ayuda to local officials to buy their loyalty.
It seems Acidre had called for a congressional investigation of the agency in charge of the upkeep of San Juanico Bridge, which connects the islands of Leyte and Samar and was once the longest bridge in the country.
Acidre was referring to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). To him, the DPWH had been remiss in its task or responsibility of informing Congress—which holds the purse—about the funds and other logistical needs of the bridge.
Congressman Richard Gomez corrected Acidre. He said the department did not fail to point out what infrastructure projects need to be fixed or repaired, including the San Juanico bridge.
Gomez recalled that during the last meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC), it was pointed out that every year, the DPWH always requests funds for the maintenance of the San Juanico bridge.
Rep. Gomez pointed out that Acidre should ask the House why the requests of the DPWH are not funded. Considering that Acidre’s boss, Speaker Martin Romualdez who is also from Leyte like him, controls the national budget through the House.
Without really intending to defend DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Richard Gomez pointed out that Bonoan had said that of the P26 billion allocated by the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for infrastructure maintenance, only P6 billion was released.
The SJB was closed to trucks carrying more than 3 tons of cargo, when in fact it was designed to trucks loaded with 30 tons when it was constructed in the 1980s, a legacy project of President Ferdinand Marcos.
The problem impacted not just Tacloban but also Samar and Leyte’s other towns.
Matod Richard Gomez: “Yung problema ng San Juanico, that is 110 kilometers away from Ormoc City, nararamdaman din namin yan. Ngayon lang kami nagkaroon ng pila ng truck sa loob ng Ormoc City, and when they (the drivers and helpers) stay in Ormoc, we don’t have ready restrooms for them at tabi-tabi lang sila nagdudumi. It is also affecting the health and cleanliness of Ormoc.”
Congressmen like Romualdez, Acidre, Elizaldy Co and Stella Quimbo (former) have a lot of explaining to do here because it seems that among the representatives, their grip on the purse is tighter than the other legislators.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews #OpinYonColumn #ViewfromCalumpang #RichardGomez #JudeAcidre