Hand washing as second nature

When Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan admitted in a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing that two contractors cornered billions of pesos worth of flood control projects that crumbled in Bulacan, the general reaction was — why did he allow this to happen for the last three years?

It was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s revelation of the 15 favored contractors, which had interlocking ownerships and acquired P100-billion worth of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects over the past three years, that prompted Bonoan to act.

Bulacan is a favorite of infrastructure crooks as the province is known for its chronic flooding problem.

Bonoan told the Senate panel that investigations had started, which implied that nothing had been initiated previously.

The shoddy flood control projects, it turns out, are the racket of some members of Congress and the DPWH, with Bulacan the focal point for the pilferage of public money.

Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando said Bonoan’s admission was a surprise. He said the projects were not coordinated with the provincial government or local officials, and many of the projects were implemented without proper reporting or approval from the provincial office.

Fernando’s statement appeared to jibe with the account of crusading officials who said local governments were bypassed in the mad dash to accumulate billions of pesos in pork barrel.

The brazen collusion between legislators and the DPWH was detailed by Fernando, who claimed he attempted to stop it through an executive order in 2023 mandating that all flood control projects must pass through the provincial government for review.

He said he wanted the local government to spearhead the development of a master plan for flood control, to no avail.

Many projects continued without local government permits or coordination; thus, the flood projects escaped oversight.

The standard operating procedure (SOP), as revealed by those privy to the DPWH racket, allocates only 30 percent or less of the actual cost to building the project; the rest goes to kickbacks and percentages.

The DPWH calls for a public bidding, with the winning contractor already pre-arranged.

The sharing of the loot happens after the contract is awarded, with 25 percent of the project cost going to members of the appropriations committee of either the House or the Senate. The legislators who amass the most significant percentages don’t sign anything.

In the district where the project will be built, a “pass through” or “parking fee” is paid to the local House member, who gets from five to 10 percent of the project budget.

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

Another one percent is allocated to the agency responsible for material testing, resulting in substandard, if not ghost, projects.

“The projects are built without even a word to the local executives,” according to Fernando.

The Bulacan governor’s statements should be taken with a grain of salt, however, since the province became notorious for the flood control scam during his term. His claim that most of the projects were unknown to him is too unbelievable.

Both local government and national officials are accountable for the state of Bulacan province, particularly Calumpit, Hagonoy and Malolos, which are perennially submerged. The callousness of the officials making money out of this is abominable.

While in neighboring countries such abuses send officials before the firing squad, here the House and DPWH thieves remain anonymous while laughing their way to the bank.

The local officials and Bonoan claim the projects slipped under their noses — which is an insult to their government positions.