President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday expressed dismay after inspecting a slope protection, which was destroyed by a heavy downpour mixing with the eroded soil in the area that blocked a major road going in and out of Benguet.
In a press briefing at the site along Kennon Road in Tuba, Mr. Marcos highlighted the impact of its closure on local businesses, saying “35 percent of livelihoods were lost immediately because of it.”
“Here is the problem. This is a P260-million project. Useless. It’s like throwing money into the river… To correct this will cost double that. That’s my top of the head estimate—(we will need) P500-million to fix this,” President Marcos emphasized.
He noted that the damage goes beyond the physical structure.
“We are not only seeing physical damage but also human livelihoods. Human livelihoods have been severely damaged because the funds that were supposed to make infrastructure standard and reliable were siphoned off by corrupt people,” he said, vowing to resolve the issues.
In a site inspection together with the members of media, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as well as Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Mr. Marcos saw for himself the extent of the substandard project on the hillside of Kennon Road.
“The most important part is gone, it has eroded, because the protection wall they built is very weak, very small,” the President said.
“You can see it here, you can see it at the bottom of the tunnel, it has really eroded because the slope protection that was put here was very low and very weak, so when the water came in, the water weighed it down and it washed everything away,” he added.
The President emphasized the need for prior consultation with local government units (LGUs) before project implementation. He recalled his experience as governor, noting that project acceptance from the locality and LGU was once required to ensure the project’s benefits.
“There must be acceptance from the locality and the LGU once the project will be completed… Acceptance is very important as the people will say if the project will really benefit them,” the chief executive said.
