Lacson wants safeguards vs conflict of interest in classroom construction

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson is pushing for safeguards to ensure that a bill seeking to accelerate the construction of classrooms and school buildings will not be marred by conflict of interest.

He said there are issues on the extent of participation of non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups (CSOs) that need to be resolved, even as he fully supports the initiative to accelerate the construction of classrooms and school buildings.

“If we involve NGOs and they will actively participate in bidding, monitoring, etcetera, there is the conflict of interest. Probably we can include a caveat, that provided they will not monitor themselves,” he said during his interpellation of Senate Bill 1482 authored by Sen. Bam Aquino.

“At the proper time maybe we can use the proper language to clarify that particular issue,” he added.

Lacson noted that under the Government Procurement Act of 2024 (RA 12009), NGO participation is limited – where the procuring entity may enter into an agreement with an NGO “when an appropriation law or ordinance earmarks an amount to be specifically contracted out to NGOs.”

But he said RA 12009 also limits the role of CSOs or people’s organizations as observers throughout the procurement process to avoid conflict of interest.

“There goes the problem. If we involve CSOs in the construction of buildings, one way or another, directly or indirectly, and the definition of NGOs and CSOs are interchanged, we might have a Napoles situation. How do we resolve this issue?” he asked.

Lacson was referring to the pork barrel scam involving trader Janet Lim-Napoles, who, in the 2010s, used a network of fake NGOs as conduits to steal billions of pesos in public funds.

The senator also sought clarification on the status of P54.8 billion remaining under the P91.2-billion Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF) from 2022 to 2025, as only P36 billion was spent for 7,172 completed and 4,962 ongoing classrooms during that period.

The BEFF covers, among others, the construction, repair and rehabilitation of school buildings, fixtures and utilities, including water and electrical tools. /apl