The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is ridden with corruption, and no construction work begins without money changing hands, President Duterte said on Wednesday.
He did not provide details of the irregular transactions, but he said the problem was serious.
鈥淧rojects, project engineers, all of that, the road right-of-way, the corruption there is grave. No construction begins without a transaction,鈥� Duterte said in a televised address to the nation.
There are many
He said he did not know who were involved, but there were a lot of them.
鈥淭here are so many officials lined up in the bureaucratic maze so I don鈥檛 know which of them are involved, even those for the medicines and all,鈥� he said.
Duterte called the attention of Congress to the corruption in the DPWH.
Senators have questioned the lump sums in the DPWH budget, as well as its massive funding for local projects compared with national infrastructure programs.
There have also been allegations that government infrastructure projects have become a source of kickbacks or commissions that contractors pay to the project proponents.
But Public Works Secretary Mark Villar enjoys Duterte鈥檚 鈥渇ull trust and confidence,鈥� according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
鈥淒espite the corruption in the DPWH, Secretary Villar delivered. It helps that Secretary Villar鈥檚 family has more money than the DPWH,鈥� Roque said at a press briefing.
The secretary鈥檚 father, real estate tycoon Manuel Villar, a former senator, is the richest Filipino on the Forbes鈥� list of billionaires for this year, with an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion, or close to P280 billion. Roque also said the President鈥檚 statement was meant to highlight the challenges in the remaining two years of his term, which included fighting corruption in government, especially in the DPWH and in Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth).
He added that it is possible Duterte will call for an investigation into corruption in the DPWH, but at the moment, he was focused on PhilHealth.
Reforms
Villar said the DPWH had taken steps to deal with corruption in the agency.
鈥淲e are one with the President鈥檚 goal of ending corruption, that鈥檚 why we take it as a challenge to further institute reforms in the department,鈥� he said at a news briefing.
The DPWH has put in place a monitoring system that includes the geotagging of projects, Villar said. The system allows the department to keep a close watch on the progress and condition of projects, he added.
The department will also be stricter with contractors, and has blacklisted nearly 30 of them, Villar said.
As for the senators鈥� questions about lump sums in the DPWH budget, he said the lawmakers might have first seen the initial summary of the projects, but the department had already submitted the details of these.
With regard to the local projects, Villar said some of these may be classified as local, but they also had a national purpose. Examples of these are roads going to tourism sites, he said.
Multipurpose buildings
Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he would push for the realignment of the DPWH鈥檚 P666.47-billion proposed budget for 2021, parts of which, he claimed, were padded to accommodate infrastructure projects of unscrupulous officials.
In a statement, the Senate鈥檚 pork hunter expressed delight at the President鈥檚 raising corruption involving the 鈥渕uch abused鈥� DPWH budget, saying it came just as the Senate was tackling the agency鈥檚 proposed funding for next year.
鈥淚t has become an open secret that commissions or kickbacks have become the rule rather than the exception in the implementation of public works projects involving not only some corrupt officials of the department but some legislators as well,鈥� Lacson said.
On Wednesday, the senator flagged P67 billion for the construction of 鈥渕ultipurpose buildings鈥� in the DPWH budget, which is supposed to be dedicated to pulling the country from economic slump due to the coronavirus pandemic.
鈥淚 wonder how multipurpose buildings will contribute to the 鈥楻eset, Rebound, Recover鈥� theme of the budget,鈥� Lacson said in grilling Villar during a budget hearing held by videoconferencing.
Lacson questioned Villar about the 鈥減attern of decreased budgets for national projects and increased budgets for local projects.鈥�
Legislators鈥� intervention
In the National Expenditure Program (NEP), Malaca帽ang鈥檚 budget proposal, P131.44 billion was allocated for road network development, but this was reduced by P21.45 billion to P109.99 billion in the DPWH proposed budget.
The allocation for bridge projects was cut by P6.5 billion, funding for flood management projects was slashed by P4.5 billion, and the outlay for asset preservation was trimmed by P9.81 billion.
Lacson said the new budget submitted by the DPWH on Sept. 7鈥攚ell beyond Department of Budget and Management deadline鈥攚as a 鈥渕angling鈥� of the original budget contained in the NEP submitted by the Palace in August. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 recognize it anymore,鈥� he told Villar and asked him if the changes were due to 鈥渋nterventions from some legislators.鈥�
Lacson described the DPWH 鈥渁mendments鈥� to the NEP as 鈥渉ighly questionable.鈥� He said revisions should not amend original submissions, as revision was the exclusive function of Congress, 鈥渢hus preparation, authorization, execution and accountability.鈥�
Legislators鈥� manipulation
Lacson blamed corruption in the DPWH for the padding of local projects, with legislators manipulating the projects in connivance with corrupt officials in the agency in exchange for kickbacks.
He said contractors had terms for the varying degrees of corruption among agency officials and legislators.
鈥淥fficials from the executive and legislative branches who ask for only 10 percent [of the project cost] are described as kind and gentlemanly; those who demand 20 to 30 percent are [called] greedy, [and] those who demand advance payments but renege on their word [are denounced as swindlers],鈥� Lacson said.