We will pin you down
Credit to Author: William B. Depasupil| Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2019 16:12:56 +0000
The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) has warned corrupt officials and employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other personalities in the public and private sectors who are involved in rigged biddings that their days are numbered.
PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna on Sunday said authorities were hot on the trails of those involved in irregular biddings and that some have been identified.
“It’s just a matter of time before we corner these enterprising individuals and have them arrested and thrown in jail,” Luna told The Manila Times. We will collar them in flagrante delicto.”
He added that the commission knew fully well how blacklisted contractors, conspiring with public officials, rigged civil works biddings in provincial and district engineering levels.
“The modus operandi of these unscrupulous personalities and their counterparts in the implementing agencies are already known to us, and unknown to them, we’re hot on their trails. May sasampulan (We will arrest some of them) after the Christmas and New Year holidays,” Luna said.
He disclosed that new players and contractors who refused to observe “SOP (standard operating procedure),” or give a percentage of the project amount to corrupt officials were disqualified by the bids and awards committees, or advised not to participate anymore in the bidding.
“This is to ensure that only favored contractors remain to bag the contracts or projects. In some cases, seemingly different bidders submit bids, but truth is, they all are owned or controlled by a single person, natural or juridical,” Luna said.
“Worst, in some instances, corrupt public officers use dummies or loan the licenses of legitimate or good performing contractors for a fee or royalty, thus undertaking the projects themselves for greater gains,” he added.
As a result, some projects were either abandoned, uncompleted or substandard.
“Similar schemes are also used by other unscrupulous suppliers participating in bidding of projects and other programs of other implementing agencies. These modus are so prevalent that there is a treasure trove of empirical data and fresh information confirming their existence,” Luna said.
He said 50 percent of project biddings in various regions were rigged.
Luna added that while he did not doubt the integrity of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, some DPWH officials have allowed fly-by-night and blacklisted contractors to corner contracts at the district and provincial level.
He urged Villar to crack down on erring officials and personnel in cahoots with unscrupulous contractors.
“Heads must roll. Secretary Mark Villar should aggressively pursue the reforms he crafted to stamp out graft and corruption in his department once and for all,” Luna said.
“Because of corruption, a big part of the contract price only goes to the pockets of some DPWH officials and the contractors. The people will be very lucky if 50 percent of the contract price is spent on the project,” he added.