COA bares anomalous DPWH projects under Arroyo gov’t

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 10 years ago

Commission on Audit chair Grace Pulido-Tan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Commission on Audit (COA) chair Grace Pulido Tan revealed their audit report on at least P16.9 billion-worth of projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2009 to 2010.

During a committee hearing in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Tan said some projects by 13 contractors were mired with anomalies and irregularities.

These contractors were:

• ANTONIO V. NIDEA CONSTRUCTION
• SUNWEST CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
• DSB CONSTRUCTION
• N-FOUR GENERAL CONSTRUCTION
• HI-TONE
• THREE W BUILDERS
• RAM BUILDERS
• I & E CONSTRUCTION
• ALGIMAR CONSTRUCTION
• FERDSTAR BUILDERS
• RITZ COMMERCIAL
• E. GARDIOLA CONSTRUCTION
• LMG CONSTRUCTION

Tan said some were not funded by congressional insertions.

Some were even funded without the issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) for the change of their locations or for their modifications. These projects were:

• Improvement or rehabilitation of drainage along Darasa, Tanauan city worth P19.258 million
• Repair or rehabilitation or regravelling along Mulanay-San Francisco, Quezon by GARDIOLA worth P19.286 million
• Improvement of Gumaca-Pitogo-Mulanay-San Francisco National Road by RITZ worth P9.6 million

The chair also noted overpricing on labor and materials. She said some materials were overpriced by more than 100 percent.

Tan cited as an example a road project between Infanta and Dinahican road in Pangasinan by Gardiola and Chevron.

Some 290 projects also did not undergo procurement process.

“Substantial defects” in Region V were also noted in the following projects:
• HI-TONE –7 projects worth P174.84 million
• ANTONIO NIDEA –2 projects worth P86.79 million
• SUNWEST –1 project worth P72.372 million
• DSB –1 project worth P1.93 million

COA noted deficiencies in the two C-5 extension projects awarded to Gardiola and Readycon.
Some of the defects are: cracks on concrete sidewalks, curb and gutter and concrete pavements; collapsed or demolished fence of service road inside NAIA, peeled-off plaster finish; potholes and pockmarks on most portion of the concrete pavement, among others.

These defects remained uncorrected, even as contractors have been paid 98 percent of contract price (P553.6 million), COA said.

Tan also noted that some projects were left uncompleted by as much as 75 percent.

In Region 3 alone, deficiencies in 42 projects amounted to P195 million, with a total contract cost of P481.85M.

Due to the uncovered anomalies, COA is asking these contractors to return at least P184.66 million.

These billions of DPWH funds form part of the House inquiry on at least P69 billion in congressional insertions in the 2010 General Appropriations Act, passed with a conditional veto of which releases would be subject to identification by Congress of new revenue sources that would support the projects.

No revenue measures were identified but the implementation of the infrastructure projects, which included roads and bridges, dredging and construction of government buildings.

The initial amount of P10.2 billion that was the subject of the inquiry was released directly to various congressional districts in the first half of 2010, or a few months before the end of the Arroyo administration.

(With the approval of the Committee Secretary and of the Chair, please find herein attached PDF copy of the presentation of COA Chair Grace Pulido-Tan during the Committee hearing of the Committee on Good Government on June 10, 2014 at Rms. 3 and 4, Mitra Bldg, House of Representatives, Quezon City.)