Cavite governor blames ‘housing scam’ for LRT extension delay

Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla. Photo by Edwin Bellosillo/Bandera

MANILA, Philippines—A “housing scam” was delaying the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 extension project in Cavite province, Governor Juanito Victor Remulla said Thursday.

In 2008, the LRT Authority gave P500 million to the provincial government, then headed by Ayong Maliksi, for the construction of houses in a relocation site for 1,800 families who would be displaced by the project, Remulla said in an interview with Bandera Inquirer.

“Upon investigation, the P500 million was spent to construct 187 houses at the cost of P2.9 million per house,” Remulla said.

“I asked all developers of low-cost housing in Cavite, the median price for a 22 square meter house, semi-finished with civil works included, is only P250,000 per house,” Remulla added.

He said the construction of the LRT line extension could not be started “because the squatters cannot be relocated to the site due to lack of constructed houses.”

The current LRT line 1 runs from Roosevelt in Quezon City to Baclaran in Pasay City. The extension of the line to Bacoor will add eight stations and is expected to serve four million residents in Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Cavite.

Remulla said that the Commission on Audit (COA) had already given him a Notice of Disallowance. He replied that the previous provincial government had already “expended the very last peso just before I [took office].”

“I passed [the COA notice] to the former governor for him to answer and I don’t know what his answer has been,” he said.

“We can’t find the money, we don’t know where it went. We looked at the accomplishment report of the contractor, there are only 187 houses finished [at the relocation site],” Remulla added.

If the LRTA wants to pursue the project, Remulla said the provincial government can undertake the relocation project at P250,000 per house.

The LRT Cavite extension project will cost a total of P60 billion and is one of the major infrastructure projects of President Benigno Aquino III.