Institutional corruption

MANILA, Philippines — All the despicable corrupt schemes of our public officials with private contractors are nothing new. These have been going on for a very long time. We have tolerated it.

But our corrupt officials have become too greedy. Some of us might have thought that a 10 to 20 percent kurakot is the price to pay for having a road paved or a bridge built. But perpetrators of ghost projects where 100 percent of a project budget is stolen should be punished by death.

Our tragedy is we cannot even properly investigate and make the obvious culprits account for these grievous acts against the nation. The Senate investigation led by Sen. Ping Lacson was forced to stop because the trail led to several senators.

The ICI created by BBM is acting like it is walking on eggshells, afraid to find sacred cows. So, it is holding closed door hearings which only make people extra suspicious of a cover-up.

BBM said the investigations should not be rushed because he wants airtight cases. A plausible excuse, but the truth is, the powers-that-be are nervous where the light of truth leads.

The government needs a pragmatic legal strategy that focuses on getting quick results. There are easy pickings to satisfy the public’s clamor for blood amid the thousands of cases that must eventually be dealt with.

Everyone realizes our legal system grinds slowly. But the public is angry and impatient. People want to see some people punished now, not ten years from now.

Not all the cases are complicated. Some are open-and-shut. Years of getting away with plunder have made some of the bad actors careless.

We can start with the ghost projects. Kim Henares, who was a candidate to be Ombudsman, lays down the strategy on how to do this:

“Tingin ko ‘yung ghost project madaling file-an ng kaso kasi lahat ‘yan documentation lang. Meron bidding, may award ka, may binayaran ka, puntahan mo yung project, wala kang nakita, ‘yan na yung kaso. Wala ka nang kailangang ibang ebidensya. Pwede mo nang i-file ‘yan.”

Then there is the SALN. Compare what was declared in the SALNs with the lifestyle of senators, congressmen, district engineers and other DPWH officials. Forfeit whatever cannot be justified by their SALNs. The burden of proof has shifted to the accused. Forfeit their high-end condo units, luxury vehicles and personal stuff like Patek and Rolex watches and jewelry.Sec. Vince Dizon cannot spend all his time running after past crooks at DPWH. Sec. Vince must still build highways, school buildings and other infrastructure. A full-time prosecutor is needed.

The culture of corruption has been endemic at DPWH for a very long time. It is very difficult to change bad habits. To make it easier, maybe the entire DPWH bureaucracy should be fired and Sec. Vince can start from scratch.

Before the flood control projects, they were using the road users’ tax as their milking cow. There was a Road Board chaired by a congressman in charge of deciding whose pockets will be blessed by billions of pesos.

It isn’t as if they don’t have enough rules at DPWH. A DPWH veteran told me they probably have the greatest number of policies, rules and regulations among government units.

They had specifications and standards, designs, costs, plans used to deal with corruption. But to no avail. Technology may help but not much.

Wrote the DPWH old-timer: “Boo, dati pang may blockchain ang DPWH. May development plans na sinusunod ang DPWH, lahat ng budget supported with an Infrastructure Program listing all projects. Walang release outside of this program.

“By the time of (Sec. Fiorello) Estuar, umabot na ng 25,000 ang projects and became unwieldy. But Estuar was a techno-savvy control freak. He introduced monitoring and checks and balances schemes. He created audit teams to assess projects. He even caught and brought to court contractors for collusion.

“Even the World Bank came out with highly computerized inventories and tracking of projects, di rin bago yung “Sinunod yan nina Sec. Ping de Jesus and (Sec. Gregorio) Vigilar. More than any other agency, DPWH had the capability to track projects. But as you say, these systems are only as good as the truth that is being put into them, not just for compliance.

“The problem may have started with the lump sum budgeting (MVUC, calamity funds, CDF, PDAF, Convergence Funds, Leadership Funds, insertions, carve-outs, unprogrammed appropriations, etc.).

“Di lang binaliwala ang mga control systems, kung di inulol ang compliance sa mga ito para maituloy lang ang proseso hanggat ma-kubra ang pondo.

“Nakapa-ulol ang ginawa: pare-pareho ang project costs, overpriced estimates, ghost projects, fake photos, etc. Lahat yan mga basurang ipinasok sa blockchain. Matagal nang nakakalusot, pero kung kakalkalin, lalabas at lalabas katulad ng nangyayari ngayon.

“But it’s still just the tip of the iceberg. Ang technolohiya nakakatulong, pero pati sa pang-uulol!”

DPWH is synonymous to corruption. But as this old-timer told me, it is not hopeless with good leadership like Secretaries Estuar, de Jesus and Vigilar.

Sec. Vince can do it too. But if he must punish past corruption on one hand and prevent new corruption as he undertakes needed projects, it may be too much for one man.

We can also be sure the crocs in Congress will pester him no end too, incessantly testing his commitment to clean governance.

The professional society of civil engineers can give a helping hand: help Sec. Vince monitor project implementation in

Projects that can be implemented by PPP should be done as PPP. Even the school building projects can be given to the private sector.

The big contractors should bid on DPWH projects if only to keep the haoshao bidders honest, if that’s even possible.

Cleaning up DPWH seems mission impossible but with everyone helping, miracles can happen.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected] Follow him on X @boochanco