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More raps up for officials behind ‘Yolanda’ housing mess

By Sarwell Meniano

October 11, 2019, 7:34 pm

<p><strong>PACC TEAM.</strong> Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019) presents to reporters a copy of the case document filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against National Housing Authority officials over anomalous post-“Yolanda” housing projects in Eastern Samar. With him are PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna and PACC lawyer Judy-Ann Bautista. <em>(PNA photo by Sarwell Meniano)</em></p>

PACC TEAM. Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019) presents to reporters a copy of the case document filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against National Housing Authority officials over anomalous post-“Yolanda” housing projects in Eastern Samar. With him are PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna and PACC lawyer Judy-Ann Bautista. (PNA photo by Sarwell Meniano)

TACLOBAN CITY -- The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) will file more charges against government officials and contractors responsible for incomplete and substandard housing projects built for badly-hit survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

After filing charges against 12 officials of the National Housing Authority (NHA) before the Office of the Ombudsman on October 9, the PACC has been gathering more evidence on reported post-"Yolanda" housing anomalies in different parts of Leyte and Samar provinces to hold responsible officials accountable.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg, and more housing project anomalies will be uncovered. We may need the cooperation of those affected parties to file these complaints to the PACC,” Chairman Dante Jimenez said in a press briefing at the Summit Hotel here Friday.

The anti-corruption body filed criminal and administrative charges against 12 NHA officials after the PACC’s fact-finding inquiries revealed anomalies of housing projects in Eastern Samar.

Jimenez noted that in Eastern Samar alone, contractor JC Tayag Builders, Inc. bagged a PHP741.53-million contract to build 2,559 units of permanent housing in four towns.

“After more than two years since the awarding of notices to proceed, only 36 housing units – or merely 1.41 percent of the awarded units – were completed when all the contracts were terminated on November 27, 2017,” he said.

The PACC found out that the contractor had failed to fulfill its obligations despite receiving at least PHP207.2 million in total payments.

The NHA officials are facing cases for violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, Government Procurement Act, and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

On Saturday, the PACC legal team will visit housing sites in Julita, Leyte and Tacloban City to check on complaints from recipients.

The team from PACC returned to the city six months after they promised to look into "Yolanda" housing controversies.

“Last April 2019, we challenged ourselves to produce results within six months in our investigation of the Typhoon Yolanda Housing scandal, or else resign from our positions should we fail to deliver them,” Jimenez told reporters.

PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna asked typhoon survivors to file complaints against concerned government agencies over the "Yolanda" housing mess.

“We will go there where the evidence would take us. Because of the political will of President Rodrigo Duterte, we will not stop until we hold officials and businessmen accountable for failed housing projects. People deserve no less than justice,” Luna said.

President Rodrigo Duterte created the PACC in October 2017 through Executive Order 43, in a bid to rid the government of corrupt public officials.

From 2013 to 2017 alone, the central government released PHP67.1 billion for the rehabilitation of areas in Eastern Visayas ravaged by the super typhoon, according to the Department of Budget and Management.

Some PHP41.88 billion of the funds were downloaded through national government agencies, PHP24.83 billion through government-owned and -controlled corporations; and PHP405.43 million through other executive offices.

On Nov. 8, 2013, “Yolanda” unleashed its wrath in the central Philippines, killing an estimated 6,300 people and leaving more than 4.4 million people displaced and homeless. Tacloban City, the regional hub of the Eastern Visayas region, was considered as “Yolanda’s” ground zero. (PNA)


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