SEN. Panfilo Lacson has revealed what he described as a “passing through” scheme involving lawmakers and contractors that has resulted in overpriced or substandard government flood control projects.
Under the scheme, a contractor pays a “passing through” fee of 5 to 6 percent of the cost of a project in a district where the lawmaker is a contractor, or where the lawmakers’ relatives are contractors.
Lacson likened the fee to a toll.
“That already deducts from the cost of the project,” he said in Filipino during a radio interview on Sunday.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
The senator also said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is aware of the scheme.
After the fee, taxes and commissions are paid, Lacson said, “sometimes less than 40 percent” is left for the actual project.
He said that the contractor has to make up for the excessive costs incurred.
“How will the contractor be compensated if he/she does not use substandard materials or take shortcuts? The government is thus shortchanged,” he said.
Resorting to a shortcut, a contractor will complete only 50 meters of a 150-meter dike or flood mitigation project, Lacson said.
In other cases, the contractor will drive sheet piles only 3 meters deep instead of the required six meters.
“The dike will be easily damaged because the contractor scrimps on materials,” Lacson said.
Yet another cost-shaving effort calls for not adding the required gravel mixture to sand, weakening a flood control structure’s foundation.
“If a cyclone hits and the river overflows, the structure is easily destroyed because the foundation is weak,” Lacson said.
The fees force contractors to pare down their profit margins to 10 percent instead of 15 percent, he said.
The worst part is that people die when such projects fail, Lacson said.
He said he would like to see the list of flood control projects that DPWH submitted to Malacañang.
“Will congressmen-contractors found liable be actually punished and face charges?” he asked.
Lacson said some members of the House of Representatives called him after reports came out that he had a list of 67 congressmen who are project contractors.
“They told me that not all their contracts are with government, and most are with private companies. I chuckled and said I don’t have a list, and I didn’t know they or their relatives were contractors until they told me,” he said.
