Village work cleared with Capitol, exec says

The acquisition of 10 culverts from the controversial Balili property in Naga City and the hiring of 10 job order workers to place the culverts in a Cebu City subdivision were all cleared with the province, a top Capitol official said.

Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino clarified to reporters that he received clearance from the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) to acquire the culverts and place them in St. Michael’s Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.

Tolentino heads the village association. He said the culverts were laid there as a flood prevention measure, and it took the workers two days to finish the job.

He said their village agreed to pay the workers P18,000 to P28,000 for their service.

“We hired the services of some of our JO employees since we know the quality of their service. And I made it clear to do this after office hours and the village paid them. In fact, I even did an advance payment to them,” Tolentino said.

Jone Sepe, the Provincial General Services Office (PGSO) chief, said local governments can dispose of materials that cannot be used for their original purpose.

He said the culverts from the 24.7-hectare Balili property remains unused due to a pending graft case in relation to its purchase at the Ombudsman.
Sepe said unused materials can either be disposed, sold through public bidding or donated.

In the case of the culverts acquired by Tolentino, Sepe classified the transfer as a donation.

“There are also some establishments and institutions who request the Capitol to donate several materials like schools, health centers, municipal halls,” Sepe said.

“We’ll just issue a request of issuance slip. We’re willing to share it to other institutions,” he said.