Partido Reporma standard-bearer Senator Ping Lacson expressed his dissatisfaction at the quality of national roads he and his team had to navigate on their way to Bicolandia this week after a two-day visit to Quezon Province recently.
In a press conference held at the provincial capitol here on Wednesday, Lacson said he wants to hold the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) accountable over the broken road segments along Maharlika Highway, which they passed from Lucena City enroute to Camarines Norte.
“We went through that all the way from Quezon, from Lucena all the way here, there are segments of roads—and you know, this is anecdotal when it comes to the Bicol region, right—that stretch of highway is undergoing endless repairs,” he said.
Should he get elected as the 17th president, Lacson said he will conduct a post-construction audit of the various road projects implemented by the DPWH and its contractors to determine if the materials used were substandard and go after whoever were short-changing Filipino taxpayers.
“If only we have that (audit system), of course, these contractors, the DPWH, the implementing agencies will be on their toes and they will ensure the materials they are using are not substandard.”
“So, we don’t have that. And no one gets charged, no one gets jailed, when six months later after the road was constructed, it is already broken. The only thing we can do is utter profanities whenever our vehicles pass through uneven roads,” he added. Macon Ramos-Araneta
Meanwhile, deep personal and political ties trump any public endorsement made by local government officials on some candidates vying for the highest elective positions, Lacson and running mate Senate President Tito Sotto said.
The pair made the statement Wednesday when asked if they are bothered by the fact that Camarines Norte Governor Edgar “Egay” Tallado already endorsed the current frontrunners in the 2022 presidential and vice-presidential races based on the results of pre-election surveys.
“The mere fact that we’re here right in the Capitol building, and he (Tallado) accompanied us here, I think at least it says something. So, we don’t want to tell him what to do. Like you said, we are not in the habit of seeking endorsements,” he said.
The Partido Reporma chief earlier noted that he and Sotto are not necessarily seeking the endorsement of anyone in their respective electoral bids because what matters to them are the votes they want to get from the people themselves once they are properly informed of their platforms.
Lacson said he always had issues against the DPWH, which often requests a large amount of money from the government every budget deliberation for the preventive maintenance of several national and local road construction projects yet it keeps falling short of expectations.
After one segment has been repaired, he pointed out that another one is about to be repaired, and so forth and so on.
“It’s endless… So, there must really be someone that we can hold accountable. Until no one is assuming the responsibility, it will just keep repeating, a vicious cycle,” further stated t Partido Reporma chairperson.
Lacson, running mate Senate President Tito Sotto, and some of their senatorial candidates held campaign sorties in Camarines Norte and Sorsogon in the Bicol region after wrapping up their two-day activities in Lucena City and Candelaria, Quezon earlier this week.
Tallado hosted both Lacson and Sotto during their visit to Camarines Norte shortly after they wrapped up their campaign activities in Quezon province. Lacson mentioned he has close personal ties with Tallado that go beyond politics and knew he could always count on the governor for support.
“Through thick and thin. When he (Tallado) was facing a difficult challenge in the past, I was there to help him. So, let’s see. Because there is nothing set in stone when it comes to that (endorsement), right?”
Sotto echoed the position of his running mate, adding that based on his years of experience in national politics, the good working relationships he built with the local government officials nationwide were what carried him through in his previous successful elections.