Contractors bare their anomalies with gov’t officials

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Two contractors made a “tell-all” how public officials made a cut on government projects.

The contractor, who asked anonymity, cited that a greedy congressman in Northern Luzon asked 30 percent of the entire contract in a bidding he won either at the Departments of Public Works & Highway, Education, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Environment & Natural Resources, or the National Irrigation Administration.

“We squirmed and wiggled earning these days a reasonable profit because at the DPWH alone we have to give seven percent to the District Engineer and his people and we have to give three to five percent of the profit to the two losing bidders who played moro-moro to the favored bidder of the congressman who wins the bid,” he cited.

Another builder, who also asked not to be named, disclosed how another lady mayor was chided by the spouse of a member of the House of Representatives because she did not inform the solon that the projects she followed up for sometimes and successfully won approval with the national officials in Manila had been deposited by the Department of Budget & Management to her town’s credit in a government bank.

“Mas okay ang congressman namin dito. Pag kami ang nakakuha ng project sa national hindi na siya nakiki-alam  sa amin kaya sa amin na ang SOP,” a mayor quipped when he heard the narration.
S.O.P is an awkward acronym for Standard Operating Procedure how the loot is divided through percentages among the “vultures” in the public service.

The first source explained how the other irregular transaction with the government departments and agency materialize.

“In a one billion pesos infrastructure project the congressman would appropriate for himself five hundred thousand pesos of the projects to be distributed to contractors where each of us paid him fifteen (15) percent, the other five hundred thousand pesos would be allocated to the sibling, political supporters, classmates, and friends where we have to pay twenty percent because each of these people gets the five percent share and remit the 15 percent to the lawmaker.

 “I give seven percent of the infrastructure’s worth to the brass of the DPWH”.

He said some secretaries of the congressmen he dealt imposed a one percent cut from him.

The source said that a congressman outside Pangasinan got angry because he felt the builder cheated the latter by not giving him the additional five percent of his cut.

“We already gave him ten percent and another ten percent to the mayor who was responsible on contacting us about the project in his town but the solon said we shortchanged him because it should be fifteen percent”.

The contractor shook only his head about the number of the people from DPWH, the Commission on Audit, the village officials, and to the secretary of the solon that he has to grease their palm.

Usually with a lot of cuts imposed on the projects, the Filipino taxpayers are the one on the receiving because the builders would construct a substandard project, he cited.

Years ago a newspaper published a photo of a road in Pangasinan where the reinforcement iron bars were made of bamboo sticks after a loaded truck overran it and the cement broke out.

“But we always get away with that kind of shenanigan because those public officials that would sign the form for the completion of work collaborated in exchange of a bribe,” the other contractor narrated.

Because of this malpractice, he said some officials of the DPWH are suspended, sacked, or reassigned in a floating position because they conspired with some contractors by giving them juicy projects.

“They did not sit well with the congressmen who should have the say who would do the projects.

To punish the enterprising officials, the solon used his connection with the power-that-be in Manila”.

He said contracting is not all lucrative. He cited a brother of a high public official in Pangasinan who asked him and a fellow contractor to chip in for a four million pesos bribe to a Metro Manila mayor so they could be awarded with a hundred of million pesos project there.

“We failed to get the project and our four million pesos went to the drain. They did not return our monies”.

He said not all contractors are moneyed, they rely on creditors whose funds they called “money lines” that carry a three percent monthly interest.

“We borrow millions of pesos so we can pay the suppliers of the cement, iron bars, others otherwise our work will stop, we breach the government, and we are blacklisted”.

He said access with these creditors is indispensable especially when election is forthcoming.

“It can build good will to a mayor, governor, or congressman who would ask from us the entire S.O.P even the project has not yet bided. We could not do anything but pay otherwise we fall under his graces and we could not have projects in the future”.

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)