Yolanda Housing Contractor Under Aquino Gov’t Faces Plunder, Perjury Charges
The contractor of the P892 million housing project for
“Yolanda” victims faces plunder and a string of criminal cases after lawmakers
confirmed that the houses he built could jeopardize the lives of people for
containing substandard construction materials.
Negros Occidental Representative Alfredo “Albee” Benitez,
chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said an
inspection team sent by the House panel to verify the contractor’s denials to
the said accusations confirmed that he had perjured himself.
Benitez said the adverse findings gave the House panel
substantial reason to determine whether or not inferior construction materials
were also used for housing units for all other super-typhoon Yolanda victims
funded by the government amounting to P60 billion.
During a House hearing early this month, JC Tayag of the
construction firm bearing his name vehemently denied accusations by
subcontractor Camilo Salazar that he used substandard steel and bars for the
construction of over 2,000 houses in Balangiga, Hernani and Guiuan towns,
Eastern Samar.
Immediately after the hearing, the House panel dispatched a
team of construction experts to determine who between the contractor and
whistleblower Salazar was telling the truth.
“Itong contractor na ito, niloko na mga tao sa Eastern
Samar, niloko pa rin ang committee,” Benitez concluded as he revealed that
charges of perjury, contract violations and plunder are being prepared against
Tayag.
Together with Representatives Ben Evardone of LP, Eastern
Samar and Deogracias Victor Savellano of PDP-Laban, Ilocos Sur, Benitez said
the team discovered that Salazar was telling the truth when he said that steel
bars used in the houses were below the standard set by the National Housing
Authority for the construction.
The team, composed of engineers from the NHA and the
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), found out that instead of 12 mm
steel enforcement bars and 20 mm horizontal bars, the constructed houses were
undersized by 6 mm and 12 mm, respectively.
“There is a possibility that similar houses for Yolanda
victims are being built in Leyte, Biliran and other provinces that suffered the
super-typhoon’s wrath,” he said.
Further, Benitez warned the DPWH and other government
agencies involved in infrastructure construction to inspect the structural
integrity of JC Tayag’s construction projects.
Benitez said he had asked the House Committee on Good
Government to jointly conduct the next hearing with his panel to determine
whether JC Tayag Builders colluded with government men, particularly the NHA,
in committing fraud by constructing and delivering housing units made of
substandard and inferior construction materials.
For his part, Evardone asked the NHA to suspend work on all
JC Tayag constructions while an investigation is being conducted.
Both Benitez and Savellano agreed that the demolition of all
houses built with inferior materials has become necessary in the light of the
discovery made by the House panel.
Watch the video report below via PTV:
Source: Manila Bulletin
Yolanda Housing Contractor Under Aquino Gov’t Faces Plunder, Perjury Charges
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October 23, 2017
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