DPWH exec ‘not aware’ of sale of limestone

The Cebu 4th  Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will not investigate  the alleged selling of limestone  excavated from  Ili Rock in Boljoon town, southern Cebu.

District Engr. James Dellosa said he was  unaware of such activity in their  project site.

He said he only knew that a resident  paid for  fuel of  vehicles used to transport the limestone   to a private property.  The limestone mountain, Boljoon’s famous landmark, is being excavated  as part of   ‘bench sloping’  to make the area less prone to landslides after the Oct. 15 , 2013 earthquake cased part of the mountain to collapse on the road below.

Jamie Fiel, an employee of the town’s engineering department,  whose name appeared in the nine hauling receipts from QM Builders, confirmed the sale.

Fiel, husband of Boljoon municipal treasurer Yolanda Fiel, said he didn’t pay for the filling materials that were dumped on his low-lying property in barangay Poblacion located 200 meters away from Ili Rock.

Paid in cash

“Ako ra man na nga gipangayo sa ila unya kay wala man koy taw na mu load mao nagbayad ko og para gasolina para ila mahatod sa balay (I only asked it from them and since I don’t have any people to load  the limestone, I paid for the gasoline for them to bring it to my property ),” Fiel said.

He said he was not aware  if the transportation of filling materials from Ili Rock was  rampant.

He said he just called the office of QM Builders and asked for the filling materials.  He  paid in cash the contractor’s person in -charge of the slope benching project.

The project engineer of QM Builders earlier denied that limestone debris was being sold.

No cost

He said all excavated materials are being stockpiled along the road of barangay Poblacion unless it has approval from the DPWH or the Boljoon municipal government.

A retired military dentist, Teofilo Silagan, went to Cebu Daily News and showed tax declarations filed with a complaint before the Ombudsman-Visayas and the DPWH Regional Office including 10 receipts showing limestone materials  being hauled out of the project site.

The limestone or anapog is  supposed to be dumped for a reclamation project of DPWH in sitio Talisay, barangay Poblacion.

In the DPWH plans, the filling materials for the project have  “no cost” because these will be taken from Ili Rock.

Dellosa yesterday clarified that the soil will not be included for the proposed reclamation project, only the boulders.

He said Col. Silagan is raising these allegations only to get money.

“Matagal na kasi yan na issue na yan, naayos na iyan sa regional office sa mga legal namin. Hindi kasi pupuwede yung hinihingi niya na P10 million. Na clear out na po namin iyan. Hindi naman po namin kinukuha sa kanya ang property, fini-fix lang namin iyan kasi may mga cracks (It’s been a longstanding issue that had been fixed by the regional office’s legal department. He’s asking for P10 million.

We’ve cleared it out. We’re not getting his property, we’re fixing it because it has cracks),” Dellosa said in a phone interview.

He said the P30,000 they offered to Silagan in his home was just financial assistance.

Residents, mostly fisherfolk and coastal residents of Boljoon last week attended a public dialogue with DPWH to air their opposition to the reclamation project.

Heritage groups also called for a halt on the slope benching project of Ili Rock and sought for a meeting with DPWH and experts to discuss the proper mitigating measure that will prevent landslide.

DPWH agreed to stop the creation of a new reclamation project after dumping several mounds of limestone to the shore and instead transferred the P43.9 million budget to rehabilitate the damaged plaza at the back of the municipal hall.

Related Stories:

Ili Rock limestones P300 per truck

Boljoon’s ‘Ili Rock’ Vanishing