39 thoughts on “An Open Letter to All i-Mountain Province”

1. When I was at SLU, the top Civil and Geo engineers were from mountain province.

   Surely they can form an independent pool of quality assessors to check that contractors are doing work according to specifications. I’m sure Bibak will be more than happy to do a fundraising to get it started.

   (And the assessors should not be contractors involved in the project themselves….)

2. Who will receive this letter, and what concrete actions are expected to come out of it? I travel along the Halcema frequently (not as often as I’d like to though!) and I also hear a lot of stories from friends living in the Mountain Province about how life can sometimes depend on whether the roads are opened, closed, safe or hazardous, especially during the rainy season. I agree with the letter’s contents, but I think it could go beyond merely making a stand and actually make concrete demands for assessors, as Nash suggests, and also demands for accountability NOW instead of at some unspecified future.

3. hi bill,

   cha napulitika et gamin ya nan projekto ay sa. SONA project pay met, dapat naited koma isnan kontraktor with complete equipment diba? apay pati samet pakyaw kontraktor ya nakikontrata? hayhayhay. kelan tayo a-asenso kung palagi nalang nakiki-alam mga pilitiko sa pagimplement at kung kanino i-a-award mga projects.Kanan Sec. Ebdane masukatan datusa ay substandard, ngem anto kay,masyado nang nahihirapan mga motorists/commuters. thank you. more power

4. i heard from the radyo ng bayan bontoc this morning that some 9 engineers from dpwh car have been suspended due to the misimplementation of those projects. the hosts of the radio program were careful not to mention names, though, so the veracity of their report still needs to be checked. they also said that some portions of the project which failed quality control tests that were conducted are now being demolished.

   the demolition and future repair is clearly associated with its being a sona project as the anonymous commenter mentioned so i also agree with what nash says: an independent group of assessors is needed to ensure that contractors will stick to the specifications of their tasks. what happens then if the job wasn’t a part of the administration’s flagship projects?

5. Hi Nashman,
   Good suggestion about forming an independent pool. Kaya lang I think most assessors would like to be contractors (hopefully, I’m wrong)so the tendency would be to not rock the boat lalong lalo pa sa MP where patronage politics has been the rule for ages. Thanks.

   Hi Padma,
   Good question as to the recipient. Haven’t actually thought of that. Although it is addressed to the iMountain Province, I’d like to think that it will be forwarded to concerned government officials. Hopefully Dan will clarify.

   Good point about the need to go beyond making a stand. I think though that this a good start for MP (and a good continuation to Joel Fagsao’s letter) where, as I said to Nash, patronage politics has kind of muted dissenting voices in the past. So this is a good point to build on for future actions. Thanks much.

   Hi Anonymous,
   Owen man, everything is politicized sa atin kaya ito ang ating napapala. Buti na lang that there was an order to change it. Hopefully, they will do it soon para di mahirapan ang biyaheros. Thanks 🙂

   Hi Pagano,
   Thanks for the update. Good point about it being a SONA project. Hopefully our government officials will be as strict in monitoring projects whether or not they are SONA projects kasi pera pa rin iyan ng bayan. Thanks again.

6. I think there is nothing wrong if the assessors will be contractors themselves but like in the justice system where judges can inhibit themselves for conflict of interest, the assessors can be drawn to do Quality Control for different projects. Para naman may gamit yang mga “Association of Civil Engineers”…etc…

   And frankly, there is simply no excuse for an engineer doing a bad job so dapat lang silang suspendihin or tanggalin sa trabaho.

7. We’ll explore your idea, nashman. Thank you very much.

   Hello Padma, although it is our intention to send the open letter to our elected officials in MP, the letter is actually more for our ourselves, the Igorots of Mt. Province. When the letter was being drafted, we also already started discussing what to do next. Interested to join these discussions? I think I met you once in UP. Silahis, my better half, introduced me to you? Magkasama yata kayo nun sa Kule?

   Kailyan ay anonymous, nu ma-achi en post kaya en-sign ka. kagka faken ifontok ay. Fasor tako met lang man tay aped tako gamin ipalpalubos, i-khekenek nu waday maila takoy grabe ay niloloko ay ma-ang-angnen. Panga-asim ketdin ta itapim nan ngachan mo ay signatory.

   Is-issuk ay pagano (nu mamingsan), tet-ewa nan kanam. Tip of the iceberg na ay kanan cha na. Panga-asim met lang kayya ta ken kad-waam si yun-a ay Bill
   ay signatory nannay ay open letter.

   Dan

8. Such letter is expected due to the recent casualty the ever dangerous Halsema highway again created. And beating up on the incumbent or suspended engineers inside and out is not going to solve the problem.

   You can have the best civil and geodetic engineers as well as assessors assembled to plan the best road at Halsema and the main culprit is always there. THE LANDSLIDES! Just look at Kennon Road. It was beautifully built and paved, but it’s demise is the yearly rainfalls, deforestations that triggered the constant landslides.

   We can always blame the government’s inability to offer a more plausible DPWH Director, or lack of funds since someone already pocketed the rest, but let’s be realistic. Granted halsema is nicely paved, would that eliminate the landslides? Agree it will solve travel time and ease the burden of those hardworking engines but the deadly nature of those mountainsides is a force to be reckoned with.

   Went to school at ASMES Bontoc for two years a long time ago, so I’m familiar with that specific portion of road.

   It’s only a perspective, nothing less..Cheers and goodhealth.

9. Yes, in this tragedy, it was a landslide.

   However, it also showed that sections of the road itself were very thin….

   And I’ve seen worse high mountain passes where good engineering and maintenance prevents landslides. The high atlas in morocco has a more dangerous highway in terms of gradient and height but with well paved roads, drainage system, and slope supports.

   And if we’ve sunk so much money on Halsema, up to the gazillions, we should have asked the Swiss to do it. It’s false economy to go the cheapest option.

   And still, an engineer who does his job badly has no business being an engineer. This is the commitment you have to make when doing public infrastructure.

10. While engineers were suspended from their jobs due to irregularities in the Halsema SONA projects, this is not to forget the real corruptors in this dirty game of highway corruption and who else but top DPWH officials, contractors and congressmen who are involved in this game.

    Engineers undoubtedly were forced to implement substandard projects where SOPS and lagay given to congressmen, top DPWH officials, and contractors have already nipped sizable cuts from the original amount of the project.

    This is public knowledge and advocacy should be moved further to exposing and getting these top corrupt officials and officers out of public service and not let the ax fall only to project engineers.

    If we are serious in making a better Mountain Province and a better nation for that matter, let our voices be heared to get DPWH Director Alquiza out from his seat and investigate the involvement of Congressman Victor Dominguez in this dirty game of highway corruption. This is not to forget also the erring contractors who should be terminated of their contracts and their licenses as well.

11. Still, with lots of money put into the project, there should have been improvements on the Halsema Road. Maid met maila!

    Count me in. Asop ya waday enfanakhana.

    Fongakhan
    Bontoc, Mountain Province

12. Dear Fellow Concerned Citizens,

    Thank you for your concern. We will see what we can do with Halsema and the projects. But please help us also.
    Coul it be that you and/or your relatives participated in the elections where these “i-mountain province” politicians were voted into office? Perhaps, just perhaps, you or your kin even cast their votes in their favor! If this is the case, I suggest you write yourselves and relatives to rethink and do something about this now and in the future.
    Is it possible that you yourselves or your relatives are contractors now or were before? Talk to yourselves. What have you done before? How did you in all honesty do it? How do we deal with ourselves/our relatives, as contractors, from now on? (Can contractors among us or those who have contractor-relatives inform them to please sign a Letter from Good Contractors to condemn this practice among Bad Contractors, for instance? Can those with politician-relatives or close friends please ask “their politicians or friends” to sign a Letter from Good Politicians condemning the Bad Politicians involved in the Halsema Mess?)

    Just thinking–hope this is not ‘lapse in judgement’.

    Sincerely,

    GMA, Malacanang
    IKUNA- I Kid U Not Also

13. Add me up please.
    Malabong Longid
    Sagada

14. Do count us in please…

    Lilian Peleo-May
    Kaitaia , New Zealand
    IOmfeg ,Bontoc

    Raymond Peleo
    Csherry Jimenez Peleo
    San Jose California
    Ilocos/Omfeg,Bontoc

15. Hi Nashma,
    Yup, no excuse really. A faulty work by an engineer could cost lives. Thanks.

    Hi Dan,
    Yup. Its good to continue the discussion beyond this. But as I said this letter is a good thing to build. Thanks for working on it 🙂

    Hi Trublue,
    Yup, there’s also the need to address the landslides. As you said, a nicely paved Halsema will continue to have problems if the portions above and below the road keep on falling down. Thanks.

    Hi Nashman,
    Tama ka diyan. If only we adhere to the same standards as the other parts of the world. Sometimes (or most of the time), nagiging palabigasan ang isang proyekto so officials/contractors/engineers/etc don’t do it well so they can have another project the following year. Thanks.

    Hi Nadjhin,
    Well said, my friend, well said. Parang kilala kita 🙂 hehe. Thanks.

    Hi Fongakhan,
    I have included your real name. Hope it is okay with you. Thanks.

    Hi Anonymous a.k.a GMA,
    Hehe, I was laughing while reading your letter, it’s quite good, if only the real GMA wrote it 🙂

    You’re correct of course. We really have to look at ourselves also on why corruption happens and continue to happen. Maybe because we’ve excused/rationalized it in the past if it involved people we knew.

    Thanks again.

    Hi Malabong,
    Thanks kailiyan, I’ve included your name here.

    Hi Lilian and Raymond,
    Thanks to both of you. I’ve included your names too. Maybe you know of other people who also would like to sign. thanks again.

16. Bill, thanks a lot for your help. Can I share the comments here on the mountainprovince and Bibaknets yahoogroups?

    Trublue, I am a geotechnical engineer and one of our jobs is to to come up with schemes to prevent or mitigate the effects of landslides. While it’s true that the occurrence of a landslide is very hard to predict, there are already established procedures to assess the landsliding susceptibility of a slope. There are already also mature technologies to prevent, minimize and mitigate landslides.

    Nashman, couldn’t agree with you more.

    Nadjin, yes, let’s all help each other move this ” further to exposing and getting these top corrupt officials and officers out of public service and not let the ax fall only to project engineers.”

    Fongakhan, sala-salamat. panga-asi taku ta enti-tinnulong tako ay mang-sustain ken mang-iparagawag sina. Mid met lang teken nu faken chataku nan mangangnen san dapat ay ma-angnen.

    GMA IKUNA, have worked with gov’t engineers before. I think I understand where you are coming from. Yes, let’s help each other.

    Malabong, Lilian, Raymond ken Cherry, thank very much. Let’s reach out to more kailyans and convince them to join us.

17. I like this letter-protest about the Halsema brouhaha! May I just emphasize some points to be included in the letter. Major thing is the need to investigate Congressman Dominguez and his involvement in the Halsema controversy and urging DPWH Secretary Ebdane to make good his vows to suspend DPWH executives involved in the fiasco.

    Siempre,the directions of this suggested inclusions in the letter will lead towards the most hankered for good governance, checking (or ending) traditional politics, and better services for our kakailiyan.

    Matagotago tako am-in.

18. Hello again Nadjhin,

    We are now working on a letter to be sent to Sec. Ebdane. Re: Cong. Dominguez, we know that he, as the representative of the lone district of Mt. Province, has had a big role to play in the budget appropriation for this project and in how this project has been so far implemented. The question is, do we have concrete proof of his complicity in the defective implementation of the project?

    Matagotago tako am-in!

19. Hello Dan,

    Please extend my regards to Silahis!!! How nice to run into each other here, thanks to Bill’s blog!

    Thanks for inviting me to the discussions on what to do next for the Halsema. How might I participate? I’m sure a lot of people have a lot to contribute. I see that you already got a lot of valuable points of view just from all these comments. I do hope this can be kept going until we start to see some serious, corruption-free results!

    cheers,
    i-Cordi wannabe ;o)

20. Hello ulit Padma,

    Kumusta daw sabi ni Silahis. The Igorots of Mt. Province in the Philippines and abroad have a yahoogroup:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mountainprovince/

    You are welcome to join us.

21. Hi Dan,

    The question is, as you have said, “do we have concrete proof of his complicity in the defective implementation of the project?”.

    Am afraid the answer is in the negative as you may also know. Yet, the fact that Cong DOminguez was strongly airing over the radio that there was nothing defective or irregular in the implementation of the Halsema projects suggests his defense for the contractors and why why why the butterfly?

    His actions make him a possible suspect in receiving or demanding cuts from the project funds, thus the need to subject him for investigation. Why all the defense?

    Include the DPWH as one of the most corrupt agencies in the government as publicized and the notoriety and practise of top officials, Cong Dominguez be subjected to a public inquiry regarding this issue.

    And a concrete proof to concretize this corrupt practise in government needs contractors’ and DPWH top executives to shed light on this matter. And will they is another question.

    Yet if the on going investigation of top officials involved in this controversy does not include investigating Dominguez, then, another round of patronage politics will be heared in Mountan Province.

22. Hi Nadhjin,

    You know more than most of us, the signatories of the letter, do about the issue.

    I and perhaps all the signatories of the letter agree with you, Cong. Dominguez and all those accountable for the project should be investigated. I would say the chances of having him and the other culprits investigated would become bigger if we get 5,000 or so of our kailyans to sign the letter. Pagano is right, we need more signatories who are actually in Mt. Province. Nu dakayo ken Pagano ket based idsi sa ili tako, panga-asi yu ta tumulong kayo ay mang-combinsar san kakailyan tako tapno enperma da. Dakami ay kailyan yu ay da induno san teken ay ili can only do so much.

    As I have said in my previous posts on Bibaknets, one of the objectives of the letter is to ensure that the actions being undertaken now to correct the defective works of the project will be carried out as required. I would also like to believe that with this letter, we, the i-Mt. Province, will become more vocal and assertive in demanding better implementation of gov’t projects in the province and that we will become more discriminating in choosing our leaders come election time.

    Maid mangangnen san dapat ay ma-angnen nu baken met lang datako.

23. Hi Dan,

    Wen ngarud ya. I wish am home-based tapno I can rally people to get signatures. Am also out in here in the wilderness doing whatchamacallit. Anyways, I will try to email some friends tapnu they give in their signatures.

    I salute you for this signature campaign you are doing and I wish to see you someday and talk more about our dear Mountain Province.

    As Igorots who are into the dap-ay and ator and am-amlang, kasapulan tet-ewa ay ituloy nan mangtukar and action on these issues which affect us directly.

    Keep the fire burning!

24. it’s been almost three months since the last comment on the halsema issue. what has happened? any new developments?

25. keep up fellow cordillerans… chow!

    The halsema issue was long before when i was still young. repairs and constuctions has been done but still we have that rugged and dusty halsema up to January, 2008 when i visited my beautiul home town.

    personnally, much have been said about the project, the trapos of Cordillera. ewan..sana naman let us all strive to make a change (for the political leaders). Wish ko lang… to have a more active, dynamic,brilliant, HONEST and GOD fearing man in the political seats. Those who have the concern on the needs and the welfare of the IMOUNTAIN PROVINCE.

    We hope to see updates in the next months and yeah hopefully a better halsema by March….

    HAPPY VALENTINES…
    Happy Velentines to one & all!

26. Hi anonymous (4:51),
    I’ll try to do updates in the coming days. Thanks.

    Hi anonymous (3:13)
    Thanks. We’re wishing for the same thing. Sana nga merong ganoong official sa atin. What a breath of fresh air that would be 🙂

27. I just visited Mountain Provine last month and was so excited cause on our way to Benguet Side, It was a blust… very smooth driving. I remembered when I was in college, palagi na lang akong may bukol dahil nau-untog and aking ulo sa bus. I always hate travelling halsema Road then.
    To my surprised when we reached Mountain Province side, hay!!!kasla manen idi 20 years ago. Karag-karag manen ti kalsada… It is even worst than before. I was wondering what will happen when typhoon hits the province… Students and farmers will be stranded in the streets again.I was talking to people about it and heard dirty stories about billions of money for the Halsema Project. Ay apo!!! Old, dirty style of politicians again??? when will they ever stop and think about the betterment of the people??? I just hope and pray that whoever is sitting in the” HOT SIT” will take his precious time to think and show to the people especially the young students who needs a well maintained road for their daily activities, that theres “hope” to this problem.
    Come on… NO MORE BROKEN PROMISES!! Just do the best you can for the PEOPLE and not for someones pocket and fame….Thanks

28. maybe a foreigner contractor would solve. i don’t care how expensive they would ask. look how koreans built roads in the south(standard. wala na talaga akong tiwala sa pilipino(except for some of course)magaling daw tayo pero asan ang resulta? buwisit kayo talaga mga sakim sa pera!!!!!!! imagine how we lost tourism, industry etc. mountain province is a beautiful place, it could have been built like switzerland. please let foreign contractor do it(the only solution)

29. please don’t put dominguez again on this issue. the more kailians will suffer from the hands of these (tagabilang ng butiki sa congresso)!!!! not even his hometown sabangan looked like it has road in it. i have walked the same old road my entire childhood days going to my beloved barrio(thanks to the exercise)and until now my last visit was worst when i have to carry my child walking the same…

30. To our public officials elected or otherwise…. please forget about your pockets for once and think about the people whom you vowed to serve. Please make the Halsema road and other public projects true service to our people.Please do not make your office synonymous to coruption.

31. Hu aunt, how’s life ?? I wish you, Janzel and uncle Forrest are okay!!! i just want to say that we’re fine here…. we wish that this year you’ll be having a long time vacation here in Phillipines,, anti, agpagatangak mab ti cellphone or camera……….hehe,, sige powh bye2″””??????!!!!!!!!! u love you, aunt, JanZel, and uncle Forrest!! WE MISS YOU SO MUCH

32. We can’t change what we see if we will not change ourselves. Poor farmers will always lord the worst politicos if you know what i mean hehehe…….it’s politicians arithmetic. What we need is the old japanese true spirit that if you can’t do you promise/s resignnnn DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN INHERIT THE SHAME oks ba?

33. Good Day, its nice, I agree and keep the good work

34. I JUST SAW THIS. WHAT HAPPENED NOW? KANEG MID MANGNGEG WENNO MAILA SI RESULTAN TO NA…. WHAT IS THE UPDATE… HOW CAN WE PROCEED FROM HERE… PLEASE POST

35. I JUST SAW THIS. WHAT HAPPENED NOW? KANEG MID MANGNGEG WENNO MAILA SI RESULTAN TO NA…. WHAT IS THE UPDATE… HOW CAN WE PROCEED FROM HERE… PLEASE POST

36. Anon/N: Hunt down Dan Peckley and Nadhjin, and others here who had solutions to our ever crumbling roads…wink!

37. As those “abroad people” signed their names and placed their “abroad address” in a lightning manner; they abandoned it in the same manner which was a foregone conclusion, when even the blinds were not convinced in the first place some positives will come out of the collective signatures. It was a charade..

    Our despicable roads are still begging, when will I be handsome or beautiful again?

38. Hi! How are you? Hows the road in Mountain province now? Its been three years from the incident that was discussed above, did the road become better now? did the people selected a new sets of dedicated politicians? are there new sets of contractors and engineers who are implementing government projects properly? How many casualties have been recorded during the past three years in Halsema and other roads in Mountain Province? Hows the road to the ever popular tourist spot-Sagada? What happened to the sinking road in Otucan-is it cemented? What happened to the ever falling rocks along some parts of the road from sabangan to bontoc? How about that along pactil area? How about the road passing through natonin going to paracelis? Do these government projects generate jobs to the residents of the area? Ah just want to have a review, if this letter with great intention for change three years ago did not die here…….

39. Hi and kumusta? roads to the Cordilleras are the least well constructed but likely unreconstructed.. basta may construction – for the eyes to see only.
    local politicians find it very hard to request for funds from the national govt – and the national govt sees the Cordilleras as least populated meaning less votes. However, politicians can still get funding – one way to make money is to get it unlikely constructed. True, the roads are not the best producing accidents during the rainy season. We.the Cordillerans are not pleased. Perhaps we should give the bidding to construct to a foreign contractor than our local kontraktors.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment *

Name

Email

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

CAPTCHA Code*

Δ