No bidding can lead to corruption, warn legislators

Opposition lawmakers warned Friday of a “golden age of corruption” if the Philippine government pushed through with a plan to enter into public contracts worth some P8 trillion  without any public bidding.

Members of the independent minority bloc in the House of Representatives raised the alarm after Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said that big-ticket projects would not require public bidding under the package of emergency powers his office was seeking from Congress.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” Akbayan Rep. Tomasino Villarin said in a rebuke of Tugade, who told a recent press briefing the government would “build, build, build” to the tune of P8 trillion once the emergency powers were granted.

Bills granting the executive branch special powers to deal with the traffic crisis are still pending in both Houses of Congress.

Villarin said allowing the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to enter into negotiated contracts under the guise of emergency powers could instead lead to massive anomalies.

“Emergency powers are not justified as these will lead to greed and abuse. While there is great potential in having these infrastructure projects, mechanisms of transparency and accountability must be put in place,” Villarin said.

He said ensuring transparency was important considering that some of the Chinese partners named by the government  were tagged by Transparency International as among firms that “symbolize grand corruption.”

Rep. Gary Alejano said Congress had yet to see Tugade’s formal proposal, adding that “the timing of the implementation of these projects must be seriously considered because it may paralyze the entire Metro Manila.”

“That is a huge amount. We must remember that constructions in the National Capital Region should be planned and phased because, even if assuming you have the money, you can not do the projects all at the same time in just so short a time. It will paralyze the whole capital,” he said.

“We must also consider that there is not much space for expansion and the population and the number of cars are rising. There is no substitute for laying the ground now for long-term solutions,” he said.

On Thursday, Tugade told Congress the projects risked running into delays if they failed to immediately grant the special powers.

Earlier, Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, cautioned the DOTr to ensure that public funds were spent judiciously even with emergency powers.

Poe issued the warning as she questioned the DOTr’s P219-billion proposed subway project that would cover only 14 kilometers.