‘Ayos pa ang kalsada, binubungkal na?’ DPWH chief says it’s preventive maintenance

“Why fix the roads that are not damaged?”

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa posed this question to Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan on Tuesday amid what he called “murmurs” against DPWH’s road repairs.

“Gusto ko lang tanungin kayo, ‘yung mga comment ng mga tao na nagmu-murmur ba. Sabihin na ano ba itong DPWH na ‘yung kalsadang ito, matibay pa, maganda pa, binubungkal na. Tapos ‘yung sirang-sira na kalsada don 'di ginagawa, 'di inaayos,” Dela Rosa said during the Senate finance committee hearing on DPWH’s proposed P821.107-billion budget for 2024.

“We’ve been questioning that, kahit ako nagtatanong ako… Alam kong maliliit na bagay lang ‘yan pero irritating on the part of the public. Merong magko-comment pa na sayang ang pera ng gobyerno dito. Hindi pa sira binubungkal na,” he went on.

(I would just like to raise this concern because some people are murmuring about this. They are asking why DPWH is fixing roads that are not damaged yet the roads that were already damaged were not reconstructed. We’ve been questioning that, including me. There are some who say that government funds are being wasted on these projects.)

Bonoan said the road repairs were for “preventive maintenance” which for him is “more economical.”

“It’s a very technical issue ‘yung ganyan. It is up to the preventive maintenance and reconstruction ang pinag-uusapan po natin dito. Kasi there is a point when the road starts to deteriorate and it would be more economical actually to undertake preventive maintenance,” the DPWH chief said.

“Kaya ‘yung medyo maganda-ganda pa ang tingin ninyo pero actually the pavement starts to deteriorate. So, it would be more economical to repave it at that point of time so we can save the base and sub-base. Hindi na ho natin gagalawin 'yung base and sub-base. It’s just the pavement that we need to replace,” he further explained.

(It’s a very technical issue. We are talking about preventive maintenance and reconstruction. There is a point when the road starts to deteriorate and it would be more economical actually to undertake preventive maintenance. There are roads that still look good on the surface but actually the pavement starts to deteriorate. So, it would be more economical to repave it at that point of time so we can save the base and sub-base. We will no longer fix the base and sub-base. It’s just the pavement that we need to replace.)

For the roads that the base and sub-base were already deteriorated, Bonoan said that would need extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction.

But for Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimente III, the DPWH chief’s explanation is “hard to believe.”

“Mahirap paniwalaan e. It goes against the input of our senses. Kita ng mata mo ayos pa e, pero sasabihin sa’yo ‘Hindi, sa ilalim bulok na ‘yan and yet may nakita kang tunay na bulok na hindi naman inaaksyunan,” Pimentel quipped.

(This is hard to believe. It goes against the input of our senses. The public sees that the roads are still okay but you will say that its base was already deteriorating and yet they see damaged roads but the DPWH is not doing anything about it.)

Pimentel then asked if the DPWH has a monitoring system that would prove that the “practice is not against the theory” that Bonoan gave.

Bonoan said the DPWH has a computer system that monitors the conditions of roads and bridges all over the country.

“This is the basis for the program that we are currently implementing right now, we now have a good inventory of the conditions of the roads and the bridges as well. We have a pavement management system which tells us what is now the condition of the road, ‘yung sa bridges ganun din po and what kind of intervention that we have to take. It’s a little more systematic now this time,” Bonoan said.

Under the 2024 National Expenditures Program (NEP), there is P15 billion allocation for the special road fund which Bonoan said includes their preventive maintenance program and other safety programs for national roads.—AOL, GMA Integrated News