Rigged biddings: Made perfect by devious pols & their cohorts

Unquestionably, the previous decade had been marked with unforgiving catastrophes.  For one, on April 22, 2019, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1Mw struck the island of Luzon, leaving at least 18 dead, three missing and injuring at least 256 others.

A year before that, on October 30, 2018, Typhoon Rosita wreaked havoc in the Cagayan region, the Cordilleras and Quirino province and left a whooping P1.8 billion losses in agriculture alone. Likewise, in 2013, not just a very strong earthquake hit the Visayas, Super-typhoon Yolanda washed out several areas in the provinces of Leyte and Samar too.

Just like many tragedies in the past, however, these ones brought about the best characters in most of us, generosity. Sadly, however, some traditional politicians took advantage of our brethrens’ misfortune by letting the voting population know of their superficial concerns through massive exploitation of photo opportunities. Certainly, such act of generosity was a good cover. A façade that shielded the filthy wealth that they had accumulated during their incumbency. On the other hand, some sectors took some religious spins on these tragedies. That the residents of these places deserved to be punished for their sins.

Whatever the personal motives or interpretations shall be, the fact remains that scientifically, natural tragedies do happen once in a while and depending on its strength, may or may not bring about destruction to anyone.

Notably though, to some extent, nature then had also conspired with well-meaning citizens, to do good as well, in unearthing potential anomalies. For instance, the tremor that hit the Visayas in 2013. To recall, as photos reveal, some kilometers of damaged concrete roads and bridges in Bohol didn’t have or have insufficient steel bars. The same was true in Cebu where the Cebu International Convention Center’s interiors crumbled. Apparently, poorly built, these roads, bridges and structures cannot withstand tremors of such magnitude. Thus, certainly, when these infrastructures were built, some unscrupulous people must have siphoned enough money and rendered actual construction destruction-bound.

Today, not just fortuitous events make our lives miserable, unmitigated flooding does.  Who would ever think that monsoon rains can wreak havoc on our communities? None. Why? Because it can be mitigated through reliable flood control projects and discipline among all of us.  Let’s be clear on these though, the root causes of these problems did not appear overnight but through the years and in different administrations. Notably, credit goes to President Marcos for exposing these anomalies and for other well-meaning politicians and individuals who are supporting and pushing for its intended outcome (accountability). Truth be told, the root cause maybe considered an elephant in the room. Yes, everyone knows they existed but nobody dared to talk about them publicly.

Indeed, it is a known fact that politicians wield so much power especially in the countryside. Most of them are astute businessmen too. They own types of business establishments that heavily deal with the needs of both national and local governments. These are mostly construction related like hardware and sand and gravel. Also, most local government units (LGUs) have heavy equipment so they (politicians) are opening gas stations as well. With the LGUs’ Bids and Awards Committees (BACs) under their total control and co-bidders downright cohorts, they’ll surely win, albeit, under cover of their distant relatives’ or close friends’ names.

On the other hand, some LGUs would prefer to engage contractors instead of undertaking the projects themselves. For one, LGU execs and lawmakers alike have favored contractors.  Worse, some politicians even have their own construction outfits too. Thus, in both circumstances, the possibility (in collaboration with DPWH engineers) that biddings will be rigged is very high. Thus, the substandard projects are unavoidable realities. Worse, some funded projects do not even exist.

So that, with these practices imbedded in the system, these politicians will continue to deprive us the benefits of free and open competition and/or transparency in the conduct of these transactions. As a result, the poorest of the poor who are really wanting that much needed economic boost continue to suffer.

On the contrary, these corrupt politicians and their cohorts (favored contractors & DPWH engineers) who are already living in filthy abundance will tend to accumulate more billions through their oft-repeated devious means, rigged biddings.