MANILA, Philippines—At least 89 contractors doing business with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and seven other agencies have been blacklisted by the government for allegedly failing to comply with contractual obligations, misrepresentation and engaging in bidding irregularities, among others.
This was reported on Tuesday by the DPWH’s Public Information and Assistance Division as it reminded the 2,600-plus other contractors operating in the country to “engage in transparent and competitive bidding of infrastructure projects”.
Aside from the DPWH, the erring contractors have also handled projects of the Department of Education, Department of Health, National Housing Authority, National Irrigation Authority, Philippine Ports Authority, National Power Corp., and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson appealed anew to the contractors to strictly comply with the approved project plans and specifications.
“Do not shortchange the Filipino people by engaging in corrupt practices,” he said.
Noting that the procurement process for the agency’s 2015 projects, worth almost P270 billion, has started, Singson also asked the contractors to “help the department’s transparency and accountability efforts by not conniving with anyone (in the DPWH) or giving commissions to politicians or contractors in securing projects from the agency.”
In a statement he issued last September, Singson indicated that the days of rigged bidding and collusion between some contractors and corrupt agency personnel were not yet over.
He said an undisclosed number of contractors apparently received favorable treatment in project bidding conducted by the department.
Favored contractors
Based on the “results of bidding conducted by central, regional and district engineering offices, we can conclude that some contractors were favored by some of these offices,” he said.
“There are also patterns wherein the same contractors joined in the bidding process where winning bidders were rotated among them,” he added.
Another top DPWH official reported that some DPWH personnel had been placed under preventive suspension by the agency for allegedly colluding with some contractors in rigging the bidding for millions of pesos worth of projects.
Among those suspended were some members of the department’s bids and awards committee, said the official, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to media.
The source also said there were fixers in cahoots with DPWH insiders behind the “practice of selling (special allotment release orders (Saros) issued by the Department of Budget and Management or DBM) to contractors.”
Fixers
Worse, the same fixers “even get copies of the Saros even before we officially receive them from the DBM,” said the official.
The list of blacklisted contractors include: AVL Construction Corp.; AM Mallari Construction; ALC Industries; AVB Construction and Supply; BE Construction; Banaue Multi-Builders Corp.; Basler Enterprises; Capson Builders and Development Corp.; Cel-Ted Construction; Constructive Builders; DGM Construction and Development Corp.; De la Merced Builders Corp.;
Domain Development Corp.; Dover Construction Inc.; EAA Construction; ES Almuete Construction; EAG Construction; Eiwa Construction Co.; F.D. Santos Construction; F.M. Ico Construction; Far East Construction; Four Ace Technology Construction; Francis Lim Construction; General Research and Development Corp.; ISA Industries and Construction; JC Rex Construction; Jega Condev. Corp.; Jelyn Enterprises; Villcruz Construction and Supply; JGS Enterprises and Construction;
JKK Construction; Jonice Engineering Construction; Jorson Marketing and Construction; KLD Engineering Construction; Kutawato Construction; Light Bell Construction and Builders; Lime Light Construction; Luna-Kalinga-Apayao Construction Co.; Magfer Construction; Marosa Enterprises; Mercedes Yap Construction,and RT Katigbak Construction Corp.; Suzuka Construction; Titan Builders; World Builders; Yoshida Construction, and Xiamen Special Economic Zone Trade Corp.