ILOILO CITY — The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) will conduct its second hearing this June 21 on the alleged sub-standard housing project in Bacjawan Sur village in Concepcion, Iloilo for victims of Typhoon “Yolanda.”
The hearing will discuss reports gathered during the on-site inspection of the PHP290-million housing project last June 8, said Renee Valencia, who chairs the Committee on Justice, Good Government, and Human Rights, in a media interview Monday afternoon.
The hearing is expected to be attended by representatives from the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Western Visayas, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Provincial Engineering Office who were present during the inspection, she said.
Valencia said they are still waiting for written statements of engineers from the DPWH and the Provincial Engineering Office about their findings during the inspection.
“I am expecting that they will be able to submit them (written statements) at least the day before (the hearing) so that we can study and if there are relevant questions and verification, we will ask them during the hearing,” she said.
In a previous interview after the inspection, Engr. Victor Diomo, of the DPWH-6 maintenance division, said that the housing project is “substandard” and he recommended that the walls be removed and replaced since they are peeling off because it did not meet the required mixing proportion.
Valencia, meanwhile, said that the houses are of “poor quality” but she still has to wait for the report of the engineers who are experts on the issue.
But Herminio Carreon, founder of Hercar Builders, the contractor of the project, said that they are ready to rectify the housing units with defects.
After the committee hearing on June 21, Valencia said that they will see if they still need to continue the conduct of hearings.
If not, she said, they will consolidate all the reports and findings until they come up with the committee report with recommendations on it.
Valencia said that although the issue on the housing project should only be the concern of the contractor and NHA, she clarified that they are just responding to the concern because the affected beneficiaries are in the province.
Valencia said that they are planning to pass the committee report to the NHA central office and either or both in the House or Senate since the Senate’s Housing Committee is also conducting an investigation on housing projects for victims of typhoons and other calamities. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
