Procedural lapses seen in contracts of 19 flood control projects

MANILA, Philippines - Public Works officials had the flood control projects worth P934 million approved during the last days of the Arroyo administration without any date specifying when they were made and signed, according to the lead investigator.

However, Jaime Pacanan, the lead investigator, said it appears that the contracts are only on paper and that the Department of Public Works and Highways has not yet started implementation.

“The contracts already have a notice to award, but it does not yet have a notice to proceed, did not have the concurrence of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to proceed with the implementation and it has not yet been notarized,” he said.

“It is not yet a perfect contract. It will only become a legal document if it has been notarized. There should also be a step by step concurrence of JICA.”

Pacanan, public works undersecretary for administration, finance, information and technology, and legal affairs, said they learned that all the signatories, except for then Secretary Victor Domingo, signed the contracts without the June 18 machine stamp.

“According to those we interviewed, they signed the contract in the absence of the date,” he said.

Among the signatories were project manager Philip Menez of the Project Management Office for Major Flood Control and Drainage Project-Cluster II, and DPWH accountant Marichu Palafox, and the different witnesses such as the contractors, depending on who won the project.

The implementing office, in this case the MFCDP-PMO, is in charge of circulating the contract for signature.

Pacanan, who heads the three-member fact-finding committee, said they are finalizing the committee report as of late yesterday morning.

They were scheduled to submit the report to Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson yesterday afternoon, he added. Pacanan said their investigation focused on procedural lapses allegedly committed by some DPWH personnel.

However, in their report, they would not recommend sanction against any employee or official and would leave it up to the department head to decide if there was a need for sanctions, he added.

Pacanan said the Fact Finding Committee found the officials signed the contracts ahead of the SARO (special allotment release order), which could be one of the procedural lapses because the required allotment should be there before the contract is signed.

Funded by JICA, the flood control contacts were reportedly signed last June 18 but the SARO was dated June 25.

The SARO was received by the DPWH on June 29 or the day before President Aquino’s inauguration.

Pacanan said it has been the practice at the DPWH that some officials sign a contract even before the date has been stamped because it would take days before all the signatures would be completed.

“We cannot have different dates on the contract, stating when each of the signatories affixed their signatures,” he said.

“There should only be one date and that is when the Secretary signed it.”

Pacanan said they wanted to know who was the person from Domingo’s office who placed the June 18 date on the contracts.

“Why did he put the date June 18 when there was not yet any SARO? The issue here is the date, that is the hardest thing for us to determine because those who signed the document said that they did not have a hand in stamping the date on the document.”

JICA and DPWH agreed that the projects should be completed in a span of six months wherein they would allocate three months for procurement and another three months for civil works.

The considerations on the given time frame was reportedly the reason why JICA agreed that the projects be subjected to a negotiated contact instead of the regular bidding process.

Previously they thought that there were only 19 contract packages, but it turned out that there were 20 packages because package no. 47, which is located in Tarlac and worth P32 million, is divided into two, Pacanan said.