PACC seeks regular DPWH reshuffle
Credit to Author: William B. Depasupil| Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:15:31 +0000
To stop bidding anomalies
THE Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) has asked Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar to regularly rotate public works officials at the provincial and district levels and reorganize bids and awards committees to prevent familiarization with contractors and stop rampant corruption.
PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna made the proposal on Monday following his exposé that suspended, banned and blacklisted contractors still do business with the DPWH and even bag contracts.
“All [DPWH] regional directors and district engineers (DEs) should be regularly rotated and all bids and awards committees (BACs) reorganized,” Luna told The Manila Times, adding that there should also be a Commission on Audit representative, and a
PACC-accredited private sector partner sitting in the BAC.
Politicians and their representatives should also stay clear of biddings, he said. Luna earlier disclosed that the blacklisted contractors use the license of contractors on good standing with DPWH in exchange for a fee or a cut in the contract.
Luna said he has documents to prove that unscrupulous contractors connived with corrupt DPWH officials.
Such unholy alliances were prevalent in DPWH district engineering offices and regional offices, he said.
“As of late, my office, not the en banc of the PACC, has received reports, backed up by documents and expert opinion, about a scheme wherein some flagged and even blacklisted contractors borrow or use the licenses of good performing contractors for a fee or royalty to be able to take in the biddings for civil work projects,” Luna said.
“This may not be happening only in district engineering offices of the DPWH but also in other line agencies implementing infrastructure projects,” he said.
The PACC, he added, will discuss the anomaly with Villar or conduct joint operations to nab the scheming contractors and their co-conspirators.
In its 2018 report, the PACC named the DPWH as the most corrupt agency of the government.
Villar admitted that some fly-by-night contractors use the licenses of big contractor firms through the help of influential personalities to bag big contracts which they were not capable of doing.
“We will be strict on accreditation. We won’t allow those using the license of other contractors. We will be strict on equipment and we will also check their financial capability,” Villar said. “So right from the start, all those that have no capability cannot participate.”
“We will also evaluate the performance of accredited contractors. We will suspend and ban those who repetitively violate the rules, but we will also encourage and support the performers,” he added.