Marcos wants LGU approval before nat'l agencies start infra projects

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will order the return of the practice of government agencies, particularly of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), of securing local government unit (LGU) approval before implementing national government-funded projects.



The President, along with local government and DPWH officials, inspected on Sunday a “rock netting” in Tuba town, Benguet province.

Under the P114.18-million contract awarded to 3K Rock Engineering, a 3,479-square meter active mesh system should be put up on the portion of Kennon Road at Purok Maramal, Sitio Camp 5 also in Barangay Camp 4 to stabilize rock formations and minimize landslide risks.

The installation of the rockfall netting started on April 24, 2018 and was reported to be completed on June 15, 2019.

“This rock netting is very notorious for corruption. Rock netting has already been banned, but it kept being implemented,” the President said.

He also raised the contractor's overcharging for the materials used for the project.

“I know the supplier of the rock netting. The price of rock netting is P3,200 [per square meter], but what was charged to the government was more than P12,000,” he added.

The President said the project’s implementation did not follow proper procedures, pointing out that it bypassed local government officials, and that no public consultations or hearings were held.

According to Marcos, during his time as governor of Ilocos Norte province, completed projects went through acceptance and evaluation by local officials, a practice that is no longer being followed.

"The SOP (standard operating procedure) before was that before you release the project to the local government, it should be first accepted by the local government. And that's something that we will reinstitute,” he said.

The President stressed the importance of local government involvement, saying local communities were in the best position to evaluate whether projects were adequately carried out, as they were the ones directly impacted.

"In my experience in local government, we check and inspect government projects every single day. Not just once in a while, every single day we walk around and go around to hear reports from ordinary people — not just from officials," Marcos explained.

Local chief executives complained that they were never consulted before infrastructure projects of the DPWH were implemented.

During the inspection, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong also informed Marcos on other damaged or allegedly problematic rock netting projects in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), according to a news release from the Presidential Communications Office.

The mayor also reported the alleged overpricing involving solar lights, roller barrier systems, and solar cat’s eye reflective safety devices.

READ: Marcos inspects ‘sloppily made’ Kennon Road rock shed

The President earlier on Sunday made a visit to the rock shed project at Purok Millsite Sitio Camp 6 in Barangay Camp 4, on Kennon Road.

The P264-million project, which was also awarded to 3K Rock Engineering, started on Jan. 10, 2023, and was reported to be completed on April 13, 2025.

However, Marcos described the project as "sloppily made" after parts of its foothold caved in due to soil scouring at the height of Typhoon “Emong” and monsoon rains in late July.

“Here is the problem: This P260 million project [is] useless. It’s like the government threw money into the river. Useless,” the President said.

According to Marcos, the slope protection of the project disintegrated, causing boulders from the mountains to fall and damaging the road.

The foundation supporting the shed’s opening was also eroded because “the protection wall they built was extremely weak and undersized,” he said. “So when the flood water came in, when it grew heavier, it (the foundation) was immediately swept away.” /das

(2025/08/24-17:07)

To read a full story, please click here to find out how to subscribe.