MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, questioned the quality of government infrastructure projects after accusing it of building a substandard highway that was “torn apart” by Super Typhoon Rai [Odette] in December.
“A national highway? … No signs at all of any steel bars to reinforce the gravel-and-sand-and-concrete mix … No wonder Typhoon Odette could easily crush it and leave it looking like soda biscuits cracked into pieces,” Bishop David wrote in a Facebook post on January 4.
The bishop’s comments came after a local news daily posted photos of the shattered government-constructed highway in Alegira, in Cebu province, torn to pieces.
The road was reportedly undergoing construction as part of the Build, Build, Build infrastructure programme of the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte.
Although Bishop David stopped short of making corruption claims surrounding the road’s construction, he said the shoddy workmanship raised serious questions about infrastructure quality.
“The photo shows a road that is only about three inches [about 7.5 centimeters] thick with one inch of asphalt applied on top of it. Who would construct a national highway this way?” he asked.
In January last year, 14 engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways were sacked for allegedly pocketing public funds reserved for the building of roads.
