Lacson says scheme, lawmaker-contractors known to DPWH
SEN. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson yesterday bared a supposed “passing through” or “parking” fee allegedly collected by lawmaker-contractors when a government project being constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in his or her legislative district is awarded to a private contractor other than the solon’s or his or her relatives’ firms.
Lacson, in an interview with dzBB radio, said the passing through or parking fee amounts to five to six percent of the contract cost of the DPWH project.
He said DPWH officials know about the modus and the names of the lawmaker-contractors.
He said the corrupt practice causes the overpricing of the contract and leads to substandard infrastructure projects.
Rep. Terry Ridon (PL, Bicol Saro), chairperson of the House Committee on Public Accounts and former representative of the militant Kabataan party-list, urged the DPWH to address Lacson’s allegations.
“The DPWH should address the veracity of these allegations, particularly whether this is an actual modus operandi in engineering districts, and report whether projects in supposed lawmaker-contractor districts are overpriced by at least five percent, substandard, or both,” he said in a text message.
Lacson said in Filipino: “For example, if a contractor builds a project in the district of a lawmaker who is a contractor or who has relatives who are contractors, he or she must pay a five percent ‘passing through’ fee, like a toll. That already deducts from the cost of the project. This is known in the Department of Public Works and Highways.”
He said the passing through or parking fee was usually at five percent, but at times, it goes up to six percent.
“How will the contractor be compensated if he/she does not use substandard materials or take shortcuts? The government is thus shortchanged,” he added.
Lacson said one way of shortchanging the government is by constructing dikes using only sand and cement, and not adding grava, or stones, to make the dikes sturdy.
He said another “shortcut” is in the sectioning of a dike or a flood control mitigation project, where the project specifications call for 150 meters, but the contractor completes only 50 meters.
He said some contractors also do not follow project specifications to drive sheet piles six meters into the ground, and only drive them up to three meters deep to save on cost and time.
“The dike will be easily damaged because the contractor scrimps on materials,” he added.
With all the “extra” fees that contractors pay, plus the appropriate government taxes, Lacson said only around 40 percent of the actual construction cost is spent on the project.
MANILA FOOTBRIDGE
Sen. Erwin Tulfo yesterday called for an investigation into an alleged overpriced footbridge in the city of Manila, which the DPWH left unfinished despite the millions of pesos allotted to it.
Tulfo said he has acquired documents from the DPWH showing that the Pasig River Esplanade footbridge, which measures 350 feet or 107 linear meters, was given funding of more than P294 million in 2019 but still remains unfinished until today.
He said that comparing the footbridge’s cost with the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, all of which are in Manila City, both bridges cost around P1.3 million per meter, while the Pasig River Esplanade footbridge costs some P2.6 million per meter.
“Mas mahal pa itong footbridge kumpara sa nasabing dalawang four-lane vehicular bridge diyan sa Binondo (This footbridge is much more expensive than the four-lane vehicular bridges there in Binondo),” he said.
Tulfo said DPWH Usec. Ador Canlas has some explaining to do, noting that the project started during his watch when he was still the DPWH NCR director.
“What’s worse is that six years have passed and the [foot] bridge has not been finished since only a number of posts were just put up… What’s even worse is that P283 million of the funding has already been spent),” Tulfo said in Filipino.
WAITING FOR ACTION
Lacson said he is curious to see the list submitted by the DPWH to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and if erring congressmen-contractors will be punished.
“Alam mo ‘yung message ay napakalakas eh pero ang imporante ‘yung follow through, ‘yung action taken. Talaga bang ‘yung mga kontratista -congressmen eh ito ba ay mafa-file-an ng kaso, mapaparusahan, kasi nagising tayo nung panahon ni Napoles, parang na shock tayong lahat pero for a while gumanda ang takbo until lumamig ‘yung issue. Eto na naman mas lumala pa kasi noon P200M ang senator, P70M ang congressmen, eh ngayon bilyon na ang insertion eh (You know, the President’s message [during the SONA] was strong but what’s important is the follow through, the actions that will be taken. Will congressmen-contractors be charged in court, will they be penalized? We were shocked during the time of [Janet Lim] Napoles [regarding the pork barrel funds scam]. For a while, everything seemed fine but when the issue died down, insertions [became worse]. Before, senators got P200 million, and congressmen had P70 million each. But now the insertions amount to billions),” he said.
Lacson said a number of congressmen called him up to explain after he disclosed that 67 House members are project contractors.
He clarified that the information came from a friend at the House, but he does not have a list of the names of the lawmakers-contractors.
“They told me that not all their contracts are with the government and most are with private companies. I chuckled and said I don’t have a list and I didn’t know they or their relatives were contractors until they told me,” he said.
Lacson said his office is doing its own investigation on the reported ghost and/or failed government projects and they are still in the stage of validating them. – With Wendell Vigilia
