CCWI hauls DPWH Region VI officials, contractor before Ombudsman
Iloilo-based contractor favored with P4 billion projects in 2024 alone
THE Crime and Corruption Watch International (CCWI), the country’s foremost anti-crime and anti-corruption watchdog, hauled before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) last May 21, the top officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region VI, the entire members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and the president of a private construction company in relation to public construction projects in the region awarded to the company worth over P4 billion just last year alone.
The complaint for violation of RA 12009 (New Government Procurement Reform Act of 2024), RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Law), RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees), and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) was filed against the following:
Sonny Boy O. Oropel, DPWH Region 6 director; Robert S. Palmera (Iloilo 3rd Engineering District), Randolfo A. Melosantos (Guimaras Engineering District), Allan Rey R. Pajimna (Iloilo 2nd Engineering District), Roy C. Pacanan (Iloilo City Engineering District), Ethel Morales (Iloilo 1st Engineering District), Bernadette Betsy B. Uy and Gener Abergas (Aklan Engineering District);
Mary Grace B. Bulaquina-Hachuela, Chair, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC); Marilou G. Zamora, BAC vice chairperson; Ormel G. Santos, Gladwyn D. Ledesma, Roland Rainier A. Victorino, and Ricardo R. Gutierrez, all members of BAC; and, Helen Edith Lee Tan, President, IBC International Builders, Inc., which is based in Molo, Iloilo City.
Based on the 30-page complaint signed by CCWI chair and president, Dr. Carlomagno M. Batalla, a copy of which was furnished to Pinoy Exposé, IBC Builders was awarded 15 contracts in February 2024 in the aggregate amount of more than P1.9 billion, of which 10 projects worth more than P1.5 billion was awarded in a single day, on February 6.
The complaint further alleged that for the first 3 months of 2024, IBC Builders was awarded 28 public works projects in the aggregate amount of more than P3.2 billion—13 projects were given IBC Builders in March 2024 amounting to more than P1.3 billion.
For the second to the third quarter of 2024 (April to September) CCWI said 6 additional projects were also awarded to IBC Builders in the aggregate amount of more than P388 million while 3 additional projects were also given to the company in the last quarter of 2024 (October to December) valued at more than P582 million.
In total, in one single year, IBC Builders was awarded 37 projects worth more than P4 billion.
These awards, Batalla claimed, was despite official DPWH data showing that IBC Builders “had incurred and is incurring considerable delays on majority of its projects” by the end of 2024.
Based on the data presented by the CCWI to the Ombudsman listing down IBC Builders’ “ongoing projects,” its project “slippage” ranges from a high of 96.68 percent for a project that was started in June 2019 and was supposed to be completed in December 2023, to a low of 10.13 percent involving a project that was started in February 2023 and supposedly completed by June 2023.
CCWI further noted that despite the glaring slippages and repeated contract violations, the respondent DPWH officials opted not to penalize or even blacklist IBC Builders as provided for in the agency’s own rules, but kept on awarding it with more contracts.
DPWH defiant, threatens to sue CCWI
In their own defense, RD Oropel and his co-respondents, in a press statement, threatened to get back at Batalla and the CCWI “should circumstances warrant.”
“While we respect Mr. Batalla’s right to file cases against the undersigned or any other official of DPWH Region VI, it is also the right and obligation of the latter to protect, not only their individual rights as employees of this Department, but also and more importantly, the reputation of this office.
“As such, should circumstances warrant, the undersigned shall institute the proper legal actions against Mr. Batalla and CCWI,” the statement reads.
Oropel also pointed out that 4 previous complaints against DPWH Region VI and IBC Builders that Batalla filed before the Ombudsman “were dismissed for lack of basis” in a “joint resolution” the OMB issued last March 12 and August 1, 2024.
“Considering the outcome of the previous cases filed by CCWI, it is evidently clear that the instant case is just as frivolous and filed for purposes of harassing the undersigned,” Oropel claimed.
However, in a post on his social media page last May 27, Batalla stressed the dismissal of the complaints mentioned by Oropel is “without prejudice” to their being re-filed “if additional evidence is discovered and properly submitted (to the Ombudsman).”
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