PHILIPPINE STAR
news
'DBM policies tailor-fit
for construction firm
of Diokno's in-laws'
By DELON PoRCALLA
By repeatedly insisting on having a "This will insli tutjonalize corruption
cash-based budgeting systemr Budget
Secretary Benjamin Diokno is actually
bTing [o tailor-fit the Deparhnent of Bud-
get and Manager4ent (DBM)'s policies in
favor of small contractors like his inlawt
Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr
said yesterday.
Andaya, chairman of the appropria-
tions committee of lhe House of Repre-
sentatives, pointed out that even fonqer
public works and highways secretary
ilogelio Singson d id away with the system
to help eradicate corruption.
"Because of the one-year cash budget-
ing, conbacts will again tend to be less
than P50 million which will not entice
the qualifi ed well-equipped contractors
because of the small contracts," Singson
wrote Andaya last Jan. 25, when the latter
sought his opinion.
"I believe this policy of one-year cash
budgeting will only.be mor€ prone to
corruptio& rcsult in poor quality national
inIla proiects, engaging small ill-equipped
cohtractors, or just end up being subcon-
tracted and will increase the cost of doing
infra projects," Singson said.
" Malinaw po ang sinasabi rito. Sa halip
na labanan ang korupsyon, lalong titindi at
lclaganap ito dahil sa cash-based budgeting
system ni Diokno (What is being stated
here js clear. Instead of fighting corn:p-
tion, it will only worsen and become
rampant because of Diokno's cash-based
budgeting system)," Andaya retorted, ex-
pressing disbelief lhal Diokno nevcr had
\ PAQa' e
'
any idea about DBM's payables, amount-
ing to billions of peso., from 2018.
in the DPWH. And who will benefit?
'Sma)l ill-equipped suppliers / contrac-
tors' tust ,like .Aremar Construction,
which is oartlv owned bv Diokno's
son-in-law," t lie Bicoland lawmaker
added, referring to Diokno's daughter
Charlotte's in-laws.
Singson told Andaya that when he
was Department of Public Works and
Highways chief, he "purposely packaged
construction contracts above P150 million
so that the DPWH could attract qualified
contractors who would be required to
provide proper equipment."
This is
"o
"considering that their con-
tracts are big enough to warrant investing
in good equipment" and "that is why we
now see many of the contractors with
concrete or asphalt pavers and invested
in appropriate construction equipment."
"Cash-based budgeting cannot cor-
rect for the lack of absorptive capacity iir
government agencies," Anday4 a former
budget chief himself, said.
"Most grand infrastructure build-ui:
programs, e.g., raising infra budget as a
percent of gross domestic product abo:v. e
five percen! created actual infra capital
that is valued at 50 percent of in{ra expen-
ditures," he added. "The infrastructure ex-
penditure efficiency is only 0.5 (percent).
South Korea's irifrastructure program was
less than five percent of GDP, .but they .
were targeted to connect manufacturing
and production centers to ports, airports
and major busirre\s centers."
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