DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan, along with other public works officials have been slapped with graft and corruption complaints for awarding more than P5.4 billion worth of projects in Mindanao and Metro Manila to private contractors despite their violation of RA 9184 or the ‘Procurement Law.’
In two separate complaints filed before the Ombudsman last April 20, 2023, the Crime and Corruption Watch International (CCWI) headed by Dr. Carlo Batalla said these contracts reeks of anomaly as they were awarded to contractors already disqualified from any DPWH biddings due to their record of ‘slippages’ in previous projects despite the prohibition of Section 34 of RA 9184.
The CCWI noted that under Section 34 of RA 9184, contractors who committed a negative slippage of 15 percent in any project or 10 percent negative slippage on two or more projects during the ‘post qualification’ period should have been automatically disallowed by the DPWH’s BAC to participate in any bidding—much more be awarded— with any project, especially if the contractor failed to address on time any deficiency in the project discovered during its post qualification stage.
For the awarded projects in the Davao region, also hauled before the OMB were Undersecretary Eugenio Pipo, in charge of regional operations in Mindanao; Undersecretary for Support Services Ardeliza Medenilla; Assistant Secretary for Mindanao Operations Ador Canlas;
Richard Ragasa, Davao District Engineer; Perry Neil Palacio; chair, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Davao City; Ma. Gloria Sorrera, Head, BAC Secretariat for Davao; Lilibeth Sarmiento, Assistant District Engineer; and BAC members, Emilio Sucaldito, Dwight Vincent Fernandez, Jocelyn Magnaye, Marilyn Tan and Alfredo Caballero.
In the complaint for projects in Metro Manila, sued along with Bonoan and Medenilla were:
Loreta Malaluan, NCR regional director; Ruby Canlas, chief, NCR 2nd Engineering District; Jose de Leon Jr., assistant district engineer and former chair, BAC; Joeann Escanlar, BAC chair, NCR 2nd Engineering District; Alex Balaan, Head, BAC Secretariat; and BAC members, Marites Firmalino, Florentino Palma and several ‘John’ and ‘Jane Does’ from the BAC Secretariat and Technical Working Group (TWG) of the 2nd Engineering District.
In the case of Davao, the respondents, according to Batalla, awarded in just a span of two months, between February and March 2023, 81 civil works projects to 38 contractors.
But the majority of them, 59 projects worth P3.84 billion, were given to only 12 contractors “who are ineligible and disqualified by law for new contracts with the government in view of violations of Section 34.3.b.ll of Republic Act No. 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act,” the complaint stated.
Prominent among the “lucky” contractors are ‘Geneses88 Construction’ with 13 contracts worth P695,727,983.76; ‘Mark Anthony Construction & Supply’ which got 11 contracts worth P284,840,688.90; ‘Rely Construction and Supply,’ which was awarded 10 contracts worth P499,568,460.95; ‘Agong Builders and Construction Supply,’ which was given 7 contracts worth P284,677,716.88; and, ‘Monolithic Construction & Concrete Products’ and ‘Rosbill Construction and Supply’ which were both given 4 contracts each worth P292,545,532.96 and P236,260,319.26, respectively.
For Metro Manila, the CCWI said a total of 45 civil works projects were given out by the DPWH between January 30 to April 5, 2023 of which, 99 percent or 44 projects worth P1.579 billion, were given to 17 contractors who were all allegedly disqualified to participate in future DPWH biddings also for their “negative slippages” in previous awarded contracts.
Prominent among the contractors in Metro Manila being questioned by Batalla were:
‘Aarcon Builders,’ which was given 10 projects worth P106,349,305.57; ‘Golden 3T Construction, 6 projects worth P77,072,867.60; ‘EF Chua Construction, 4 projects worth P109,949, 987.38; ‘Mcorr Construction,’ ‘Philippine Chemsteel Industries,’ ‘AKN Construction’ and, ‘Eight J’s Construction with 3 projects each valued respectively at P38,866,609.40, P57,448,516.54, P182,154,917.05 and P268,398,780.03.
CCWI, an anti-corruption watchdog, has been an accredited NGO/CSO at the DPWH since 2021.
During the term of Secretary Mark Villar, the CCWI, thru a memorandum of agreement both parties signed on May 3, 2021, it was even allowed to observe the DPWH’s entire procurement process to include post project evaluation in order to promote transparency and good governance in the entire department.
However, last March 22, 2023, Bonoan suddenly issued a 1-page memorandum declaring the MOA with the CCWI as “invalid” and its terms “not binding” to the DPWH.
Bonoan did not cite any clear reason behind his decision except to claim it was arrived at after a “comprehensive study” of the matter.
Up to now, Batalla said they have yet to get a clear explanation from the DPWH chief over his decision to scrap the MOA.