Where’s our money going?

Last week, I attended a gathering of Philippine Hotel Owners Association at the New World Hotel in Makati where Secretary Sonny Dominguez was the guest speaker. In his talk, he seems confident that the country is moving forward with all the new initiatives of the government. Really?

As I was listening to him, I told myself, “Wow! This man wants to believe the impossible. He may be a good - natured man but he is definitely blinded or just plain numb.” He was talking about the new tax reform that may clearly bring more money to the government to better the infrastructure and public services of the country but veered away from government control of expenses.

Under Executive Orders 127, 127-A and 292, the Department of Finance is responsible for the following: Formulation, institutionalization and administration of fiscal policies in coordination with other concerned subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities of the government; generation and management of the financial resources of government; supervision of the revenue operations of all local government units; review, approval and management of all public sector debt, domestic or foreign; and rationalization, privatization and public accountability of corporations and assets owned, controlled or acquired by the government. The Department of Finance plays a vital role in the progress of the country.

But recently, the department seems to have a different perspective on the use and control of public funds. It looks like the department is looking into the areas where they can juice out our money unmindful of how public funds are spent. I feel that knowing how much they get from the public, they have a moral obligation to cure the control of public spending.

Isn’t it very obvious how many want to be part of government? Our government has so much money and yet cannot pay our foreign debt. Public funds continue to flow out to the huge bureaucracy we have in this country not to mention the many projects that are overwhelmingly expensive, padded and over-budgeted. Yet, no significant progress has come out of all these initiatives. To date, the DPWH has the biggest expenses, and no one has cried foul on the exorbitant costs.

My good friend Rick Ramos Managing Director of Pilipinas Sandiwa Heritage Foundation has written to the President and his cabinet members many times. He was asking them to look into the 5.2 km road widening in Boracay. The issue is the complete waste of public funds on the DPWH road-widening project worth over P500 million. On top of the initial P50.0 million, DBM released another P490 million for the same project for a total of P540 million or a little over P100 million per km. This is more than five times the cost of DPWH at less than P20.0 million per km.

Thus, instead of a project cost of only P100.0 million, the total cost ballooned to P540.0 million. Why? The DWPH added a drainage to the project which is really not needed for the entire length of the 5.2 km circumferential road. But the drainage should not cost more than P40.0 million especially since the much cheaper HDPE pipes were used together with the RCPs. The total project cost should only be P140 million. So where did the P400 million go? Even assuming that an additional P50 million was used for the drainage, the total project cost would only be P190 million. So once again, where did the P350 million go?

Other than the obscene overprice of the P540 million project, Ramos further raised the issue that “Boracay Island does not need a four-lane 5.2 km highway with RCP drainage, given the pronouncements of the President that Boracay shall be placed under agrarian reform and the land to be given to the ‘natives’.”

If you travel north to Baguio, you will notice that in NLEX, SCTEX and TPLEX there is hardly any drainage system. The rainwater simply flows to the shoulder of the road and towards the lower elevation of the sides of the expressways. The key is just the slope on the pavement so that rainwater naturally drains to the sides of the road. Simple. This is not rocket science. The same could have been done in Boracay outside the town proper.

Ramos continues, “I have observed that DPWH is wasting billions of pesos of public funds on the drainage in the countryside and urban areas.” DPWH has recently installed drainage projects in isolated areas in Mauban, Quezon, that are not needed. Just like with expressways, the rainwater can just flow to the side of the road with the proper slope of the pavement. At most, an open C-channel culvert which the Americans did in Clark Field. The same was done in the Marine Training Camp in Ternate, Cavite with US funding and contractor.

But to be fair, Senator Frank Drilon started it with his Circumferential Road in Iloilo in 2012. Drainage and sidewalks were installed by the DPWH in agricultural areas with rice fields! Perhaps for the insects to walk on! Susmariosep!

Then in Baguio, DPWH has installed drainage projects where they are not needed such in South Drive and Gibraltar road going to Mines View Park. Worse, they do not even work due to the wrong design just as in the military cutoff road from Session Road to Kennon Road. The DPWH is now embarking on another drainage project in the Burnham Park worth P35 million. Yet the area is not known to be flood-prone. Due to the topography of Baguio, there is very little or nominal need for drainage since the rainwater can just naturally flow from the road to the creek or river such as Kennon Road and Leonard Wood Road.

Another DPWH project is the road-widening in Lawton Avenue in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Why does it cost P424 million for just 3.1 kilometers? Or P130 million per km? Shouldn’t it cost less than P20 million per km? And even if you add P10 million per km for the relocation of underground cables, the total should only be P30 million per km. or a total of P100 million. So, how did the cost blow up to P424 million? Where will the P300 million go? Sanamagan!

* * * How on earth can the President ever think of putting Lapeña as the new head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (or TESDA)? First of all, he is a military man who has no training whatsoever in education. And why would Lapeña out of delicadeza or more importantly self-respect ever accept the post? After his failure in the Bureau of Customs, shouldn’t he have just resigned?

What’s happening to the Philippines?