'Yolanda housing fraud': Anti-corruption body recommends raps vs. NHA officials

Metro Manila (AdChoiceTV News, October 9) — The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) on Wednesday recommended the filing of charges against 12 government officials responsible for alleged anomaly in the housing project for survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

PACC said that, after a six-month investigation, it found irregularities in the Yolanda Permanent Housing Program, which was tasked to build resettlement houses for the typhoon's victims.
PACC Chairman Dante Jimenez said in Eastern Samar — which was devastated by the super typhoon on November 8, 2018 — that the P741.53 million contract to build over 2,500 housing units was bagged by a sole contractor. He said that two years after the contract was awarded, only 36 housing units were completed.
"This means that J.C. Tayag Builders Inc. (JCTBI) had failed to perform its obligations in the contract despite receiving at least 15%, roughly P111.23 million," Jimenez said in a statement.
The contractor has denied being awarded majority of the contracts for the project.
PACC said 12 National Housing Authority officials should be charged by the Office of the Ombudsman for violating anti-graft laws, but did not disclose their names.
"The PACC Investigation Service found prima facie evidence against the respondents for giving unwarranted benefits, advantage, and preference to JCTBI, which was found to have fraudulently misrepresented its technical capacity into entering contracts with the government," it said.
Jimenez warned that the anti-corruption agency will continue its investigation into the housing mess until it finds the "brains" of the anomaly.
Super Typhoon Yolanda, known by the international name Haiyan, hit the Philippines on November 8, 2018 and killed at least 6,300 people.
AdChoiceTV News has been trying to reach J.C. Tayag Builders Inc but no response yet from the contractor.


AdChoiceTV News, Robi Chan  contributed to this report.

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