The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-6) has denied the existence of the so-called “ghost projects” in Western Visayas.
“Wala sang ghost projects sa Region VI. Imposible nga makahimo sang ghost projects. Pero according sa presidente, may ara kuno. Kon may ara man gid, mga sagad-sagad nagid ina magdiskarte,” DPWH-6 Director Lea Delfinado said in an interview over radio station Bombo Radyo-Iloilo on Monday, Nov. 9.
In a televised address on Nov. 5, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an audit of DPWH projects “to determine if they are ghost projects or not.”
“The main racket in the DPWH is the ghost project. There’s no delivery. There are many of those,” he said.
According to Delfinado, it would be impossible to carry out ghost projects in the region because of the agency’s modern monitoring system.
In Nov. 2017, the DPWH launched a mobile application called “InfraTrack” to “better monitor the status of infrastructure projects and to stop ghost projects.”
Delfinado said the DPWH’s Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) and the Commission on Audit (COA) are also actively monitoring all the projects implemented in the region.
She vowed to further strengthen their efforts in preventing the occurrence of ghost projects.
“Kon may ara man kami madiskubrihan nga mga personnel nga involved sa corruption, ti aton man ina nga aktuhan kag hatagan sang sanction if proven guilty,” Delfinado said.Angelique Amira Jabian/IMT
