Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson exposed on Friday yet another moneymaking scheme at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), this time involving junior personnel who require contractors to submit documents priced at thousands of pesos per page.
Lacson said these additional “requirements” are imposed by the “juniors” at the District Engineering Office level are on top of the regular commissions and “obligations” contractors are made to pay.
“Corruption has become systemic where greed has evolved. Now they add requirements that cost money per page of bidding documents and material testing reports. Even individual pages of documentary requirements come at a price,” he said in Filipino in an interview on NET25.
In Filipino: Lacson: Binuking ang Bagong ‘Per Page’ Raket ng Junior DPWH Personnel
Lacson cited information reaching him indicating that the junior officials allegedly charge the following fees:
* Technical notes like variation order: P10,000 for the documents plus P2,000 per page per request
* Planning and Design Section: at least P50,000 for soft copy, depending on region
* Materials testing report: 1% of the contract cost; no receipt
* Bid Documents: at least P50,000, depending on the region
* Inspection per initial billing: P5,000 per inspector; additional P10,000 and P5,000 per signatory if prepared by DPWH “insiders”
* Final billing: P75,000 plus P5,000 per project engineer
* Quality Assurance conducted by Central Office: the District Engineer will call contractors for P50,000
* Construction Performance Evaluation System (CPES): P50,000 to P200,000
Lacson, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee looking into the corruption behind anomalous flood control projects, lamented that this shows how entrenched corruption has become at the DPWH alone.
In privilege speeches last Aug. 20 and Sept. 9, he detailed how corruption has become organized in the DPWH, such that some engineers can afford to gamble away hundreds of millions pesos in casinos.
Worse, he said these corrupt engineers have become examples to their juniors. “The junior personnel see their district engineers get rich so they decided to get rich as well,” he said.
Lacson said these additional costs ultimately harm not the contractor but ordinary Filipino taxpayers, who lose their lives and livelihoods when substandard flood control projects are destroyed during calamities.
“The lower-ranking personnel add requirements to ‘punish’ the contractors. But the real ones being punished are us taxpayers because the contractors pass on the costs to us by using substandard materials,” he added.
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Lacson: Binuking ang Bagong ‘Per Page’ Raket ng Junior DPWH Personnel
Binuking ni Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson ngayong Biyernes ang panibagong raket sa Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), na kinasasangkutan naman ng mga junior personnel na naniningil sa mga kontratista ng hanggang libo-libong piso kada pahina ng mga “requirement.”
Ayon kay Lacson, ang mga karagdagang “requirements” na ipinapataw ng mga “junior” sa antas ng District Engineering Office ay bukod pa sa regular na komisyon at mga “obligasyon” na pinagbabayaran ng mga kontratista.
“Naging systemic na kung saan nag-evolve sa sobrang katakawan nagdagdag ng nagdagdag ng nagdagdag ng pagkakagastusan, pagkakakitaan, pati per page ng bidding documents, pati per page ng material testing report, pati per page ng kung anong documentary requirements, pinepresyuhan na,” ani Lacson sa panayam sa NET25.
Ayon sa impormasyong nakalap ni Lacson, kasama sa sinisingil ng mga junior officials ang mga sumusunod:
* Technical notes tulad ng variation order: P10,000 sa dokumento plus P2,000 per page per request
* Planning and Design Section: P50,000 para sa soft copy, depende sa region
* Materials testing report: 1% ng contract cost; walang resibo
* Bid Documents: P50,000, depende sa region
* Inspection per initial billing: P5,000 per inspector; dagdag na P10,000 at dagdag na P5,000 kada pipirma kung taga-loob ng DPWH ang gagawa ng report
* Final billing: P75,000 plus P5,000 per project engineer
* Quality Assurance conducted by Central Office: the District Engineer will call contractors for P50,000
* Construction Performance Evaluation System (CPES): P50,000 to P200,000
Bilang chair ng Senate Blue Ribbon Committee na nagsisiyasat sa katiwalian sa likod ng flood control projects, sinabi ni Lacson na malinaw na nagpapakita ito kung gaano kalalim ang ugat ng korapsyon sa DPWH.
Sa kanyang mga privilege speech noong Agosto 20 at Setyembre 9, detalyado niyang ibinunyag kung paanong naging organisado ang korapsyon sa DPWH, hanggang sa kaya ng ilang engineer na isugal ang daan-daang milyong piso ng pera ng taumbayan sa mga casino.
Mas masama pa, ani Lacson, ay naging ehemplo ang mga tiwaling engineer para sa kanilang mga junior. “Siyempre nakikita nila ang mga DE nila ang lalaki ng kita. Itong mga nasa ilalim ng DE, teka muna, maghahanapbuhay din kami,” dagdag niya.
Binigyang-diin ni Lacson na ang dagdag na gastusin ay hindi kontratista ang tunay na nasasaktan, kundi ang karaniwang mamamayan, dahil nauuwi ito sa substandard na proyekto na madaling masira sa oras ng kalamidad.
“Ang mas mababa, magdadagdag ng requirement, parusa sa contractor. Pero ang talagang pinaparusahan ang taxpayer kasi ang contractor di magpapalugi yan. Babawasin yan sa gagawin nilang substandard,” paliwanag niya.
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