Mayor seeks probe into DAP-funded road project in Maguindanao

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COTABATO CITY, Philippines—A mayor in Maguindanao has called on the national government to investigate a multimillion-peso road project under the Disbursement Acceleration Program which he described as the “worst road project” in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mayor Zam Ampatuan of Rajah Buayan pointed out, however, that the 17-kilometer Pagatin-Libutan-Zapakan-Barorao road project was being implemented by the regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways  in Central Mindanao and not by the ARMM.

Ampatuan said only a full-dress investigation could establish the facts about the project, and who was to blame for it.

The P200-million road concreting was funded by the DAP under the Transitional Investment Support Program (TISP) or stimulus fund. It was ostensibly awarded by the DPWH national office to a Manila-based contractor.

A field supervisor of Lambayong Construction, a subcontractor of the Manila firm, said suspected extortionists blew up a concrete mixer owned by his company.

The source, who did not want to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media, could not say if this was reported to the authorities.

Ampatuan, a civil engineer by profession, said a no-nonsense probe could delve into local observations the project was way below engineering standards, making it possibly the worst road in the ARMM, and into the subcontractor’s complaint his workers were being “terrorized,” forcing them to rush the work due to the “extortion” demands of armed groups.

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach the owners of Lambayong Construction.

For their part, local residents said they had not seen any equipment or workers of the Manila-based contractor since the start of the project.

Ampatuan said the project was considered by many to be a “dream road project,” it being a major section of Makar Road which was built by the American colonial government in 1908.

“This means this road has been left out of the country’s road development map for more than a century,” the mayor said.

He said the project should have been better coordinated with the DPWH-ARMM office because it was within the region’s jurisdiction in Maguindanao, one of five component provinces of the ARMM.

Besides, the road leads to the Old Libutan Mosque that was built in 1867 and is a potential site for cultural tourism development. The mosque’s neighborhood is also a likely destination for researchers on local tradition, ethnic music and history, Ampatuan said.