Photo courtesy of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development
Perjury and even possible syndicated estafa charges may be filed by lawmakers against a contractor in housing projects for victims of Supertyphoon 鈥淵olanda鈥� (international name: Haiyan) in Eastern Samar, after an inspection last week showed the steel bars used by the contractor fell short of government specifications.
Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez, chair of the House of Representatives鈥� housing and urban development committee, said at a press briefing on Tuesday that contractor Juanito Tayag of JC Tayag Builders Inc., 鈥渄efinitely committed perjury鈥� when he denied in a Sept. 18 hearing that substandard materials were used in the resettlement sites.
Benitez said an inspection conducted after the hearing showed the reinforcing steel bars used by JC Tayag fell short of the 16 millimeters specified by the National Housing Authority (NHA).
The rebars were found to measure 6.53 millimeters to 11.84 mm, Benitez said.
Ilocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano recalled that he made Tayag testify under oath during the Sept. 18 hearing.
鈥淸He鈥檚] lying right in front of us. I don鈥檛 understand it. How brave of him,鈥� he said.
Tayag on Tuesday insisted that the materials were not substandard, contrary to the claim of whistle-blower Camilo Salazar.
He said the claim had 鈥渄amaged the reputation鈥� of his company.
Tayag said he regarded the findings of Benitez鈥檚 committee as important because he needed to 鈥渟ave the company鈥� he 鈥渨orked hard to build.鈥�
Not licensed engineer
Tayag said Salazar was not a licensed engineer and was fired when the group of workers he supervised did not follow the housing design in a project in Balangiga, Eastern Samar.
He said receipts and results of material testing showed that his company did not use 8-mm rebars, as claimed by Salazar.
All in all, JC Tayag鈥檚 resettlement project contracts amounted to P800 million covering more than 2,000 housing units, Benitez said.
He said the syndicated estafa angle was 鈥渂eing studied,鈥� because the undersizing of the rebars resulted in a 30 to 40-percent price difference.
NHA officials responsible for the projects may also be held liable for negligence, Benitez said.
鈥淲e were wondering how this can happen without the monitoring and supervision of NHA officials,鈥� he said.
Benitez and Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, who authored House Resolution No. 599 that triggered the congressional inquiry, may file the criminal complaints in their personal capacities.
Other Yolanda projects
Benitez added that the House鈥檚 investigation would be expanded to cover Yolanda housing projects handled by other contractors.
Evardone urged the NHA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to conduct a joint investigation and testing of construction materials.
鈥淚 want to make sure the units that will be occupied or are occupied already are really suitable for the victims of Yolanda,鈥� he said.
He noted that the houses built with substandard materials are already a sunk cost, because the DPWH鈥檚 standard procedure is to 鈥渞emove and replace鈥� such infrastructure.
During last week鈥檚 hearing, Tayag lamented that lawmakers took the allegations of Salazar about the use of substandard materials as 鈥済ospel truth.鈥�
鈥淭he alleged substandard issue only happened in one of our project sites in Balangiga,鈥� Tayag said then.
鈥淗owever, they declared the construction in Eastern Samar as a whole substandard. Standard logical principle does not agree that a particular fact can form a general statement. That is malicious,鈥� he said.
He claimed Salazar was a foreman who was relieved over the poor implementation of works and plans.
In response, Benitez said Tayag could not present payment slips during the hearing and only showed a billing statement claiming payment.
鈥淗ow can a salaried person or foreman bill his employer?鈥� he said.
NHA inspection
On Tuesday, Tayag said in a statement to the committee that NHA engineers were 鈥渧ery, very diligent and meticulous enough in the inspection of the quality of the materials delivered to the project sites.鈥�
He said it was not true that his company had cornered 80 percent of housing projects in Eastern Samar.
Tayag asked the committee to clear his company鈥檚 name.
鈥淭he bad publicity over this issue tarnished the reputation of our company,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he bad publicity impressed on the minds of the Filipino people that JC Tayag Builders Inc. entered into a fishy contract with NHA [and that it was] inefficient,鈥� he said.
He added that the damage to his company was 鈥渋rreparable.鈥�
According to Tayag, the NHA notified him to proceed with the project in February 2016.
He attributed the delays in the implementation of the project to some changes in the massive earth-moving operations that arose from land boundary errors and illegal claimants.
Tayag also cited shortage of workers, as the government embarked on housing projects in 171 towns in 54 provinces.
Due to lack of gravel, sand and soil, JC Tayag had to haul road-building materials from supply sites 150 kilometers from the project sites, he said.
Construction was also hampered by rain, he added.
Tayag denied his company subcontracted parts of the project.
鈥淭he company directly called the shots in the operations,鈥� he said.
Explaining why he took on the project, he said few contractors were interested to work in Eastern Samar because of the difficulty in obtaining materials and the distance.