THE anti-corruption watchdog Crime and Corruption Watch International (CCWI) is questioning the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for continuously allowing contractors with proven records of unfinished projects to participate in the bidding of infrastructure and construction projects.
CCWI chairman, Dr. Carlo Magno Batalla, said the policy makes a mockery of the government’s claim of ‘reforming’ its procurement process to prevent corruption and waste of public funds.
“Why the DPWH continues this practice even under Secretary Vince Dizon is a mystery and raises public suspicion on his sincerity,” Batalla said.
Batalla. in particular. was referring to the DPWH allowing ‘JD Legaspi Construction’ (JDLC) to participate in the bidding last December 16, for the “reconstruction” of the 4-storey Mabini Hall Building within the Malacañang Compound worth more than P641 million.
An old Philippine Star article dating back to September 30, 2002 (Who is contractor Legaspi? | Philstar.com) said the firm is a “sole proprietorship” owned by Jesusito ‘Boyet’ D. Legaspi, a civil engineer.
The generally favorable article was in connection with JDLC’s bagging the contract for the construction of the ‘President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue’ (PDMA) that now runs parallel to Roxas Boulevard and presently traverses the cities of Makati, Pasay and Parañaque.
The project became controversial after it was criticized as the “most expensive” road project under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
What the records show
Under Batalla’s stewardship, the CCWI has become an accredited civil-society observer in all government biddings by the Government Procurement Board, especially those involving infrastructure and construction projects being handled by the DPWH.
For the reconstruction of the Mabini Hall (Contract ID: 24O00234) with an approved budget (ABC) of P641,744,899.32 under the supervision of the DPWH-National Capital Region Office, JDLC is set to get the contract, after edging out its main competitor, Nation Star Development Corporation, by submitting the lowest bid.
JDLC submitted an offer of P535,788,023.00, or 16 percent lower than the ABC.
Nation Star, for its part, submitted a tender of P635,300,800.00 or just slightly 1 percent lower than the ABC.
Batalla, however, pointed out that if the past performance of JDLC had been considered by the DPWH-NCR’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), the company “should have been disallowed from joining the bidding to begin with.”
He averred their review of JDLC’s performance—based on the DPWH’s own database—showed that of the 11 infrastructure projects awarded to the company between 2017 and 2024 with an aggregate value of P3.205 billion, it appears the company only managed to meet the DPWH’s ‘threshold limit’ of 10 percent and lower “slippage” in performance for two projects, namely:
- The Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project (Phase V) worth P399,492,148.22 (Contract ID: 17Z00021) approved by the DPWH Central Office that was 95.34 percent completed or a slippage rate of only 4.66 percent.
However, the project’s status remains “ongoing” despite its being awarded to JDLC 8 years ago, or on April 11, 2018, with the expected completion date by October 25, 2024. This is equivalent to a delay of 397 days counting from its expected completion date.
- Construction of bank protection works along Chico River in Piat/Tuao, Cagayan worth P415.3 million also awarded by the DPWH Central Office to JDLC that was reported as 89.96 percent completed or a slippage of only 10.04 percent.
However, the project, which remains “ongoing,” has already suffered a delay of 701 days from its expected completion date after its award last December 9, 2019. The project was supposed to be completed by December 26, 2023.
The remaining 9 projects showed various degrees of completion with 2 projects involving the construction of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) building along Macapagal Boulevard showing a glaring completion rate of less than one percent covered by the following:
- Contract ID: 23O00037; P285,466,651.00; PRC Building Phase 3, Regular Infra, GAA 2023, awarded on April 27, 2023, with only 0.30 percent completion rate or a slippage rate of 99.70 percent and a delay of 585 days from its expected completion date.
- Contract ID: 24O00049; P239,287,925.70; Phase 4 of the PRC Building, Regular Infra, GAA 2024, awarded on March 20, 2024, with only 0.16 percent completion rate or a slippage rate of 99.84 percent and a delay of 257 days from its expected completion date.
A scandal that should not have gotten bigger
As an accredited bids observer at the DPWH, Batalla noted that as far back as 2022, they filed criminal cases involving 40 private contractors and their alleged “protectors” at the DPWH before the Ombudsman, citing the department’s own records of unfinished projects by these contractors.
Among those they sued was ‘Sunwest Construction’ linked to disgraced former House Appropriations Committee chairman, Rep. Zaldy Co.
Since, then, Batalla said they have also repeatedly called on the DPWH to suspend, at the minimum, or blacklist, as the maximum penalty, the contractors they have flagged.
Their advocacy, however, fell on dear ears, especially when Manuel Bonoan was appointed public works secretary by President Marcos Junior in 2022.
Bonoan even went to the extent of banning the CCWI from observing all biddings at the DPWH.
Batalla also chided the Ombudsman under Samuel Martires for dismissing their complaints on a technicality.
“Instead of conducting a thorough investigation of our complaints that is within its power and mandate, Ombudsman Martires chose to dismiss the DPWH’s own data that we downloaded and submitted to his office as evidence by declaring them ‘unauthenticated.’
“The CCWI believes that had the DPWH and the Ombudsman acted promptly on our complaints filed more than 3 years ago, the present flood control project scandal could have been prevented,” Batalla added.