P-Noy Cabinet execs job hunting

MANILA, Philippines - Several members of President Aquino’s Cabinet who are stepping down with him on June 30 are not retiring yet and are on a job hunt, according to outgoing Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.

“I for one will go back to the private sector. I am still interested in the water business. I have told headhunters to look for a job for me,” the 68-year-old Singson said in a recent television interview.

He said he learned that other Cabinet members, including Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, would like to resume working in the private sector.

He said he has not been offered any job by the incoming Duterte administration.

He added that even if there was an offer, his wife no longer wants him to continue working in government.

Singson pointed out that in the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH)’s entire history, only he and former secretary Gregorio Vigilar served a full term of six years.

“The average service of previous secretaries is less than two years,” he said.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said Singson “is one of the best performers, if not the top performer, in the Aquino Cabinet.”

“He has erased the reputation of his agency as one of the most corrupt government offices and has accelerated the implementation of infrastructure projects in the provinces,” he said.

In a television interview, Singson said Aquino is “underrated in terms of his accomplishments.”

“He has done a lot for the country, including in the area of infrastructure,” he said.

He said his agency has been able to shed its image as one of the most corrupt government offices and build a lot of roads, bridges and classrooms because it had Aquino’s trust.

“He never meddled with us. He wanted us to take over all government infrastructure projects, but it was impossible for us to do it,” he said.

Singson pointed out that upon Aquino’s instruction, his agency was able to help the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Agriculture build classrooms and farm-to-market roads.

He recalled that when the President asked him to assist DepEd, there was a construction backlog of 66,000 classrooms.

“We had to undertake it through the public-private partnership program to catch up with DepEd’s requirements,” he said.

He admitted that his agency is still constructing school buildings that the K-12 education program requires.

“These are three-four-story buildings and multi-year projects,” he said.

Singson said in some areas, funding for classrooms is bigger than the amount allocated for roads and bridges.

“For instance, in Puerto Princesa City, our district office there has a budget of P300 million for infrastructure maintenance and new projects. Its allocation for new classrooms is P500 million,” he said.

Due to his its huge infrastructure load, his agency awarded P341 billion worth of contracts last year, he said.

“The contractors billed us P241 billion, which means they have a backlog of P100 billion,” he added.

He revealed that because he has been awarding huge contracts, he has required contractors to upgrade their equipment.

“For a P100-million road construction contract, we have required that a contractor should have his own concrete paver,” he said.

Singson said under the Aquino administration, his agency the DPWH, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation and Communications have launched a “convergence” project.

“We have accelerated the building of roads and other infrastructure leading to tourist designations, and airports and seaports,” he said.