A delayed government project is one thing. Hiding the delay from the public is another.
The first is a matter of fact. The second is a crime. As a crime, this is the biggest to have visited Region 8, involving economic losses reaching P5 Billion per annum and some local and national leaders.
The subject of this story is the Daniel Z. Romualdez International Airport in Tacloban City that was a brainchild of the former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos who was then member of Congress, representing first district of Leyte.
On the drawing board
Since 1993, upgrading the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in San Jose, Tacloban City into an international gateway has been on the drawing board. But for one reason or the other, the project stayed on the drawing board, unable to take off, so to speak. That is, until 2020, when Phase 1 of the project was given the green light and contracted to a joint venture – MAC Builders and ML Builders Inc.
In the contract, Phase 1 -- specifically the construction of a new passenger terminal building (PTB) -- starts on December 5, 2020. It was supposed to be finished by May 29, 2022. Today, the project is enmeshed in a seething, still-unfolding controversy.
In a presentation made by the Regional Project Monitoring Committee 8 (RPMC) last September 19 it was reported, based on the records of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), that the construction work on the new building was 38 percent behind schedule as of July 27. Meaning, 38 percent of Phase 1, which should have been already done by that time, had not been accomplished.
The slippage mystery
This inability to meet deadline, in construction jargon, this is called “slippage”. Ordinary citizens better understand this in commonsense language as a “delay”. Under the law, a slippage of 15 percent is enough to warrant the termination of the contract. Here lies the first “mystery” in this case: Why was the law not followed, and MAC and ML were kept as the contractors for this project?
The RPMC presentation also shows that, by CAAP’s account, as of August 23, or a month and a half later, the slippage was down “20.20 percent”. But the story doesn’t end here.
Instead of divesting MC Builders and ML Builders of the project as the law dictates, the members of the Regional Development Council of Eastern Visayas (RDC) chaired by Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez only asked the joint venture to submit by August 29 a plan to catch up on the delay. This is the second mystery.
Now, for the third mystery, which is the most mindboggling: in the RPMC presentation, as per the CAAP table titled “PROJECT PHYSICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT (CATCH-UP PLAN)”— apparently based on a report from the contractor, by September 15, 2023, the slippage on the project was practically zero – “0.22%”!!!!!
Only in the Philippines
How could this have happened? Taclobanons and frequent-flyers in the region are asking in disbelief. Between July and September construction activities at the site showed no sign that the project was being fast-tracked. No visible activity at all. In fact, the project still looks very much closer to the same state it was last July 27.
“Only in the Philippines! This slippage reduction from 38 percent to negative in a span of two months is unimaginable, more so given the unhurried pace of the construction work. This calls for an investigation beyond the power and jurisdiction of the RPMC and RDC, if we are to help this region.” Atty. Junie Go-Soco, the RDC member representing the private sector and OpinYon8’s assistant publisher, said.
“A catch-up plan that is all plan. It’s more like catch us if you can.” Ray L. Junia, founder of Kilig Lakbay, a movement advocating safety in travel and chairman and publisher of OpinYon Media, said.
“Not really impossible . . . with a stroke of magic, perhaps” Junia, added.
The ‘slight delay’
Then on September 23, CAAP issued a statement admitting that parts of the airport project, including plans for a new passenger terminal building, were behind schedule. “The ‘slight delay’ was due to revisions at the terminal’s roofing, arch finishes and access ramp. These changes were approved last Sept. 19,” this according to CAAP director general Manuel Antonio Tamayo, a national newspaper reported.
“DoTr looks like in PR mode here, trying very hard to explain the unbelievable.” a journalist based in Manila remarked.
“Now CAAP is officially admitting the delay. But to say it is ‘slight’ is a gross underestimation and, therefore, a lie. The project’s implementation time has doubled. It is now 100 percent over the original construction time as stated in the MAC/ML contract. CAAP continues to deceive the public,” Go-Soco said.
“That’s not a ‘slight delay’, that’s ‘a sleight of hand’”, Junia quipped.
And Covid came
Covid-19 struck. Due to the lockdown restrictions subsequently imposed, construction work was suspended September 4, 2021. Soon after, the operation resumed October 1, 2021, after compliance with the rigorous, government-mandated health and safety measures. However, because of the suspension, the completion date was moved further up to February 16, 2022. adding 48 days to the construction time.
Three more adjustments on the schedule for project completion were made after that: August 6, 2023, September 1, 2023, and, lately, May 22, 2024, further extending construction time for the new building to over 500 days of delay. So far, in all three, the reason given for the date adjustments was “weather disturbances”.
Unraveling a mystery
Meanwhile, the original budget of almost PhP700 million has shot up to something like PhP830 million. But this is another story that we will highlight in next issue.
In a news conference held last September 26, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), along with RDC chair Lucy Torres-Gomez announced the “good news”, referring to the latest “accomplishment” reports from the CAAP and the contractor.
The project continues to mystify.
Unraveling this mystery does not end until its final conclusion when justice and truth are served.
#OpinYon8 #CoverStory #ThisMagicIsACrime? #DelayedProject #HidingTheDelay #Crime #DanielRomualdezInternationalAirport #ImeldaMarcos #MACBuilders #MLBuilders #RPMC #CAAP #LucyTorresGomez #CatchUpPlan #Tacloban #JunieGoSoco #RayJunia #ManuelAntonioTamayo #NEDA #OpinYon #WeTakeAStand