Graft as immovable object in DPWH meets irresistible force
Don S. Reyes
The Manila Standard
Second of three parts
Change at the Department of Public Works and Highways, slow at it may seem, is happening and it is coming from within.
This, according to Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez, is largely due to clearer, simplified and updated internal controls, policies and processes.
Soriquez said policies, issued in department orders, used to be vague and inconsistent, that left many gray areas where wastes and corruption can take place.
“By making our rules and guidelines clear and transparent to all, we are already leaving very little room for errors in the Department,” he said.
Recently, Soriquez directed a comprehensive review of all department orders to ensure that each covers an entire business function and to make them available electronically, allowing quick “key word searches” so all can have immediate access to information.
To make sure errors are spotted and corrected if they occur, check valves were put in place to ensure efficiency in operations and to protect government assets and resources.
Already, the Complaints and Action Center and the Internal Audit Service are deep at workl, even walking the extra mile. The IAS, for example, is now doing pre-audit, which was not done in the Department since the Commission on Audit shifted to post-audit. It also does special audits so that graft can be detected even without complaints.
This anti-graft crusade got outside help from World Bank when the financial institution finance Road Information and Management Support Systems, which maximized the Department’s document tracking and executive information systems.
Soriquez is particularly proud of the Department’s Civil Works Registry, which automates the pre-bidding qualifications of contractors and keeps a tamper-proof record of contractor information.
“The Civil Works Registry is able to prevent rigged bidding because the system is transparent. It is the system that evaluates the qualifications of contractors. They themselves can see how their applications are being processed by checking the system,” he said.
As of September this year, 3,795 contractors have applied for registration, with 3,624 of them already enrolled and 171 required to update their documents. Only registered contractors can bid for a project as only them are deemed technically and financially qualified.
“The system is quite simple and makes life better for everybody. With the click of a finger, your record can now be checked. We submit once and, using the computer, the bids and awards committee can see if you are eligible or not. There is no red tape and it is transparent,” Vic Lao, a contractor, said.
Delays in processing, which are ploys to extort from contractors, are now minimized, if not eliminated, because of a document-tracking system that pinpoints where papers gather dust.
And an executive information system enables top leadership the performance of regional officials as well as completion rate of projects anywhere in the country.
Soriquez admits that much has yet to be done and change is slow because graft and inefficiency are decades-old problems, but the systemic reforms are taking hold and will remain even if he is gone.
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