Two lady legislators have filed a measure institutionalizing the existing Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Transparency Portal and expanding it into a comprehensive Transparent Procurement and Infrastructure Portal (TPIP) to curb corruption in public spending.
On Monday, House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Third District Negros Oriental Rep. Janice Degamo filed House Bill 6772 or the “Transparent Procurement and Infrastructure Portal Act” to establish a permanent, publicly accessible online platform.
It is envisioned to serve as the official nationwide repository of information not just on government-funded infrastructure projects, but also on all government procurement, including goods, supplies, materials, and services.
“The existing DPWH Transparency Portal represents a significant advance in promoting transparency and accountability. However, without legislative action, this mechanism remains vulnerable to discontinuation, alteration, or removal by future administrations. What begins as a reform today must be protected from being undone tomorrow,” the bill read.
“By making transparency a matter of law rather than executive policy, this measure ensures continuous public access to information regardless of changes in national leadership,” it added.
It can be recalled that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. launched the DPWH Transparency Portal in November this year as part of his administration’s efforts to stop corruption in public infrastructure projects.
Since the current transparency portal primarily focuses on infrastructure projects, HB 6772 aims to expand its coverage to the procurement of supplies, services, equipment, and materials, as these constitute a substantial portion of government expenditures and should also be subject to public scrutiny.
Through the integration of open data standards, AI-assisted search, livestreamed bidding, geo-tagged project information, and inter-agency data coordination, the TPIP will serve as a reliable and permanent tool for citizens to monitor the use of public funds.
Once enacted into law, the DPWH, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will lead the implementation of the TPIP, while the COA shall verify the accuracy of reported project data as part of its audit process.
“We are taking this step because never again should ghost projects, bloated contracts, secretive bidding, or buried documents steal from the Filipino people. Transparency should not depend on who sits in office; it must be protected by law!” Degamo said.
De Lima, for her part, underscored the necessity of the measure to restore public trust in government.
“We need this measure so that many eyes are watching and able to scrutinize government expenditures, making it harder for the corrupt to steal. We should never leave the people in the dark about where their taxes go. Mga kurakot lang ang matatakot sa pagsasabatas ng ganitong panukala,” De Lima said.
Any public officer or employee who violates this law may be imprisoned for up to six years and / or fined a maximum of P500,000.
