A recurrence will be very likely if certain major reforms of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) preparation process are not undertaken.
In the wake of all that has been happening with the flood control projects mess – investigations hearings, subpoenas and arrests – three questions are uppermost in the minds of the Filipino people. The first is, will the guilty legislators, contractors and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials be convicted and imprisoned for their roles in the worst scandal in the history of the Philippine government? The second question is, what is the degree of likelihood of a recurrence of the scandal? And the third question is, what measures need to be put in place to absolutely ensure the scandal’s non-recurrence?
Are individuals like lawmaker Elizaldy Co, Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara and contractors Pacifico and Cezarah Discaya likely to see the inside of a jail cell? Undoubtedly yes. Under intense questioning by the elected representatives of an outraged people the beleaguered DPWH official and contractors felt compelled to provide stunning information regarding the nature and scope of their despicable operations. Their admissions were remarkable. With their testimonies the contractors and their DPWH accomplices virtually laid out the government’s cases against them.
Add to their self-incriminating testimonies the documentary and technical evidence – including, especially, photographs of ghost and uncompleted projects – and it can be said with absolute certainty that the personages involved in the flood-control projects mess have by themselves tied the judicial nooses around their necks.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to give an affirmative answer to the second question that is nagging the minds of the people of this country, to wit, what is the degree of likelihood of a recurrence of the current scandal? The best answer to this question is a conditional one. A recurrence will be very likely if certain major reforms of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) preparation process are not undertaken and a recurrence will be highly unlikely if the reforms are undertaken. In other words, there is no absolute guarantee that the flood-control projects scandal of 2025 will not happen again.
Which leads to the third question nagging the minds of Filipino. What changes need to be put in place in order to absolutely ensure that people like the Discaya couple, Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and lawmaker Elizaldy Co. do not again threaten the stability of this country’s fiscal system?
Only a strictly implemented, seven-point reform program involving six instrumentalities of the government – Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDEV), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Congress, Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) and the concerned local government units (LGUs) – will prevent a recurrence of this year’s horrendous flood-control projects mess.
The reforms are the following:
1. The NEP shall comprise only programmed projects.
2. Congress-Executive Department discussions regarding inclusions or insertions into the NEP shall take place only before the Executive Department’s submission of the NEP to Congress, and no insertion to the NEP shall be made during the bicameral conference.
3. The proceedings of bicameral conference shall be open to the public.
4. A DPWH-DBM group shall be created to review all winning public works contract bids for financial soundness and compliance with applicable laws.
5. COA shall be provided with copies of all public works contracts and shall conduct audits of public works projects at least once every quarter.
6. All RDCs shall be furnished with copies of contracts covering public works within their jurisdiction and shall make quarterly reports thereon to DepDev.
7. LGUs (provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays) shall be furnished with copies of contracts covering public works projects within their respective jurisdictions, shall inspect such projects as often as practicable and shall make periodic reports thereon to the next-higher LGU.
If the foregoing seven-part reform program is put in place and strictly implemented, a recurrence of this year’s outrageous public works scandal will is highly unlikely. There will be recording, inspection and reporting every step of the way.
(llagasjessa@yahoo.com)
