Dismantle crooked system

Corruption is so entrenched in Congress and, by extension, the entire government, that planned investigations are not expected to produce promising results despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s active involvement.

The implication of President Marcos’ recent revelation of favored contractors cornering infrastructure deals, primarily on flood mitigation, was the continuation of the “Mahiya naman kayo” smackdown in the State of the Nation Address that was directed at members of Congress.

The ampaw project in Calumpit, Bulacan, in which the substandard structure was not hidden from President Marcos, was just the tip of the iceberg.

Thus, it is easy to imagine, with the Calumpit abomination as an example, how most of the country remains submerged during a downpour despite the hundreds of billions of pesos spent annually on flood mitigation.

Proponents of a change in approach, following the revelations of systemic graft in the annual budget’s creation and the branding of the current General Appropriations Act as the most corrupt ever, are now detailing Congress’ manual for siphoning people’s money.

Based on the computation of those who are inside the loop, only 30 percent or less of the actual cost goes into building the project; the rest is spent on kickbacks and percentages.

Those who get the most significant share of the pie don’t sign anything; thus, when cases are filed, only the contractors and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) signatories are charged.

The proponents of pork barrel have no signature, and thus are “untouched, because there’s no evidence.”

An implementing agency, such as the DPWH, where a pork project is inserted, will call a public bidding, but the winning contractor is already pre-arranged.

The usual scheme or the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) would have 25 percent of the project cost going to members of the appropriations panel of either the House or the Senate.

Then, in the district where the project will be done, a “pass through” or “parking fee” is provided. The parking fee is given to the congressman who gets about five to 10 percent of the project’s budget.

Then, three percent goes to members of the Bids and Awards Committee, while another three percent is given to the “losing bidders” who are accomplices in the rigged bidding.

Another one percent is allocated to the agency responsible for material testing, a process necessary for substandard materials to pass inspection.

Other costs are one percent for inspectors, seven percent value-added tax and one percent for insurance. Only eight percent (VAT and insurance) of the cost is legitimate, while the rest is SOP. The contractor counters the huge under-the-table costs by overpricing the materials for the project.

Cold-formed sheet piles cost about P39 per kilogram (/kg) in the market, while hot-rolled costs P55/kg, but in the official unit price analysis, cold-formed is priced at P90, while hot-rolled is at P136.

Summing up the percentages means about 58 percent is pocketed while only 42 percent is left for the holder of the contract. Out of that shrinking amount, the contractor still has to generate a profit of about 12 percent, leaving 30 percent for actual project costs.

When President Marcos said that those responsible would have to account for the theft of public money in the Calumpit project that he witnessed, a long line of officials in government was implicated.

Will the President let the ax fall where it may? That remains to be seen.