Composed image of AFP and Inquirer files
Manila, Philippines – A Modus Operandi, on which members of the House of Representatives or their related moonlit as contractors to overpriced or inferior constructions or both of the flood control and other infrastructure projects have expanded at the weekend.
In an interview with Radio DZBB on Sunday, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said that the program known as “round” was known in the Department of Public Work and Automen (DPWH).
Read: Marcos: Nobody will be spared in the procedure via flood control projects
“If, for example, a contractor establishes a project in the district of a legislator who is a contractor or has relatives who are the contractor, he/she has to” fees “like a tribute.
“The fee is usually five percent, but sometimes it rises to six. Due to the information we have received from contractors, the project is impaired. How is the contractor compensate if he does not use inferior materials or occupies links?
When asked how much of the project costs the project actually paid according to the “through fees” together with taxes and commissions, Lacson said: “Sometimes less than 40 percent”.
President Marcos himself had previously warned that he was involved in anomal flood control projects “some names” of contractors.
Care for the list
Lacson said that he was curious about the list of the flood control projects of the DPWH, which they had submitted Malacañang and “when Congressmen occurred, actually punished and punish and punish and punish and punish. [made to] Face fees. “
He revealed that some house members had called him after reports had come out that he had a list of 67 congress members who were contractors.
Lacson made it clear that he only asked a friend during the opening of the 19th congress how many congressioners are.
“They told me that not all of their contracts with the government and most of the private companies are together. I giggled and said I have no list and I didn't know that they were or their relatives until they told me,” he said.
Projects compromised
As an example, Lacson cited the “link” in the sections of a dike or flood protection project, in which the project specifications require 150 meters, but the contractor only concludes 50 meters.
In other cases, the contractor does not follow any project specifications to drive the leaf heaps six meters into the ground and instead drives them only three meters. As a result, the dike is easily damaged because the contractor relies on materials.
Another case is not to mix gravel with sand, which weakens the foundation of a flood protection project. “When a cyclone strikes and the river overflows, the structure can be easily destroyed because the foundation is weak,” he said.
Lacson also found that these fees force contractors to reduce their profit margins to 10 percent instead of 15 percent.
Death by flooding
What is worse, said Lacson, is the cost of human life when these projects fail: “People die during the floods brought by cyclones. This is the worst part.”
The senator said that he continued to ask for the review of information into failed and ghost flood control projects and is ready to compare notes with Malacañang on the list of projects that the DPWH has submitted.
He also asked the palace to appoint the social responsibility of other large companies on the offer of San Miguel Corp.'s presidents, Ramon Ang, in order to clean up the government free of charge for the government.
“[Ramon Ang] said he only needs authorization. Imagine that the richest families in the country will bundle their CSR resources (corporate social responsibility) and do what the government spends hundreds of billions in tax money in every financial year, but apparently does not seem to be delivered. It may be a little out of the box, but why not? “He said in one post on X.
He added that Ang's commendable initiative was an opportunity for Malacañang to “give a clear call to other billionaires in the Forbes list in order to bundle their resources as the law of social responsibility”.
“Imagine that RSA or a large company offered to solve the floods in Metro Manila, which is if others are asked in the Forbes list to help the government in this regard? I am sure that they would agree and you can imagine the problem that we can solve,” he said.
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Should Ang deliver his offer, Lacson will add that he would reduce the funds for flood management for Metro Manila for the DPWH and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. /CB