Author Topic: Bohol NIA Scandal Erupts Anew  (Read 1002 times)

MikeLigalig.com

  • FOUNDER
  • Webmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 33285
  • Please use the share icons below
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Tickets on a Budget
Bohol NIA Scandal Erupts Anew
« on: December 06, 2010, 03:28:44 PM »
By Bohol Chronicle

Seven employees of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) who underwent a gut wrenching experience with a polygraph test conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stood their ground against moves by NIA Region 7 Manager Engr. Modesto G. Membreve and Human Resource Officer Jose Lito Lambohon to further "undermine" their credibility in the eyes of the public.


In a strongly worded statement released to media, the four women and three men, proudly calling themselves "NBI Men and Women", strongly denied the existence of anomalies in the NIA as claimed by Membreve

The "lucky 7" are all employees of the NIA Provincial Office under the direct supervision of Engr. Olimpio J. Gala-gala, Jr., OIC, Provincial Irrigation Officer, Provincial Irrigation Office.
The seven refusing to be cowed, came out in the open to refute point by point the issues raised by Membreve In an article printed last Sunday in the Bohol Chronicle.

On the issue of Membreve conducting an investigation regarding leaked NIA official documents falling into the hands of persons poised on filing charges against him, the aggrieved employees bared that they were unaware of any on-going investigation on the matter.

They only knew that they were already tagged as prime suspects when a certain Arnold Palma of the NBI informed them about the lie detector tests.          
They also dismissed claims by Membreve of breaking "vicious practices at the Provincial Irrigation Office (PIO) of forced accounts by insiders" as implausible given Membreve's self proclaimed reputation as a conscientious and honest government employee. Sure dismissals from the service and charges in courts would have been their fate.

They explained that force account work or project implementation by administration is a normal NIA method to help irrigators associations (IA's) to comply with the equity requirement or counterpart participation equivalent to 30% of a project's direct cost.


Each worker member of an IA will set aside a portion of his daily wage thru payroll deductions as his personal equity contribution together with the value of aggregates and other locally available construction materials gathered for the project use shall form part of the IA's equity.

An IA's pooled resources of more than the required 30% will exempt them from the payment of the annual amortization to the NIA for a period of 50 years or less, depending on the IA's capacity to pay.

Since NIA, a government owned and controlled corporation is mandated by law to recover the construction cost of irrigation projects from its beneficiaries, projects by local contract would greatly hamper the generation of the required 30% equity contribution of IA's since private contractors utilize private workers.

Debunking Membreve's assertion that the government is being cheated by this scheme, the employees pointed out that equity contributed by IA's through wage payroll deductions are deposited in NIA's depository banks while construction materials for the project are duly issued vouchers.

Belying the statement of Membreve that no double checking of construction materials are conducted to ensure quality control, the "lucky 7" informed Membreve that NIA Bohol PIO has hired since 1980 a trained Materials Testing and Quality Control technician to check the quality of construction materials in all NIA irrigation projects.

The employees continued that NIA PIO are not taking any chances to guarantee that irrigation systems under their supervision would last the designed lifespan of fifty years.

Washed river sand presently with a pick-up price of P1,000 to P1,300/cu.m. depending on the source location are only used in all concreting activities. NIA PIO will welcome information of washed sand selling at P300/cu.m. as claimed by Human Resource Officer Jose Lito Lambohon.

The concerned PIO employees denounced Lambohon, an alleged "close friend and personal appointee" of Membreve for issuing "inflammatory and libelous statements" on alleged dummies and cheating in NIA transactions.

Lambohon has been with the NIA for only one and a half years and is not privy to NIA affairs and jurisprudence, according to the NIA employees.

The concerned NIA employees admitted that on the average they have served the NIA for 23 years as casual or project based employees holding key positions in the NIA Regional and Provincial Office since NIA Region 7 filled up only 25 positions out of the 51 positions approved by the DBM.

The NIA concerned employees excoriated Membreve for forcing out field workers using a communal room with a single electric bulb and no functioning comfort room as their sleeping quarters once a week while his family are living in a P3M bungalow house inside the NIA compound constructed with government funds. Water and electricity, furnitures and fixtures, appliances used by Membreve's family are at NIA expense.

The employees dared Membreve to compare his living expenses with the lowly paid field workers whom he blamed for using NIA facilities at government expense.

The strongly worded rebuttal of Membreve's tirade against NIA PIO employees ended with the pledge to pursue their quest for transparency, loyalty and allegiance to the government regardless of whose feet of corrupt officials and misfits are trampled. They stand firm on their records as witnessed by God and COA.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=35135.0
John 3:16-18 ESV
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son (Jesus Christ), that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

👉 GET easy and FAST online loan at www.tala.com Philippines

Book tickets anywhere for planes, trains, boats, bus at www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

Tags: