“Huwag na maghintay ng red tape, huwag na maghintay ng proseso.”
This was the marching order of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to officials from the regional office and the Catanduanes District Engineering Office when he visited the province last week.
Assuring funding for the repair and rehabilitation of national infrastructure damaged by super typhoon Uwan, he said that DPWH offices should strictly monitor the work to ensure that it would be prosecuted according to plans and specifications.
“Bago na dapat ang DPWH ngayon. Kailangan mabilis, maayos at honest yung trabaho,” he stressed, as he instructed OIC-DE Vivian Biaco to award the rehab projects to contractors undertaking similar contracts as well as local contractors to save on mobilization costs.
Already, the local DPWH has asked at least one local contractor to handle the immediate removal of numerous landslides along the circumferential road and two secondary national roads, with the payment to come later.
There is nothing wrong with following procedures as the New Government Procurement Act already provides for negotiated procurement in emergency cases like natural or man-made calamities.
Under this provision, the head of the agency may delegate to the BAC or the end-user or implementing unit the authority to directly negotiate with a legally, technically and financially capable supplier or contractor.
The contract shall be immediately awarded to the contractor after the negotiations are concluded, upon the recommendation of the BAC, end-user or implementing unit.
Where Sec. Dizon’s directive could fall is in the computation of the project cost by the Catanduanes DEO.
It may be recalled that last Oct. 30, 2025, or 10 days before STY Uwan caused the devastation, he issued an order lowering the prices of construction materials used in infrastructure projects of the scandal-plagued agency.
The immediate use of the revised Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD) will result in estimated savings of about P60 billion in the DPWH budget for 2026 alone.
As pointed out by the Tribune in an earlier editorial, the new prices are not realistic, considering the current levels in the province of Catanduanes.
The CMPD’s base price for sand and gravel at just below P700 per cubic meter is much less than the P750 to P850 per cubic meter of aggregates delivered by local hardware stores and quarry permittees.
Reinforcing steel bars, which will be needed in the rehab works, has been priced by DPWH at P36.06 per kilogram but steel bars sold locally cost about P42 per kilogram or about 17 percent higher.
Sec. Dizon also lowered the price of cement to P213.05 per 40-kg. bag, which is 12 to 20 percent less than the current market price of P240 to P255 per bag anywhere in the island.
Given this situation, it would prove difficult for the DPWH regional office or the Catanduanes DEO to negotiate with any contractor if the prices of construction materials are not adjusted to actual levels plus a at least 10 percent.
At his rate, the contractor might not even realize a decent profit especially if a certain politician demands a usual cut of 18 percent and DPWH personnel also take small cuts.
Given this possibility, there is only one way a contractor would accept a negotiated contract for calamity rehab projects: with DPWH project inspectors willingly closing their eyes on substandard work.
So much for the new DPWH with its “mabilis, maayos at honest na trabaho…”