DPWH to bid out flood control projects

MANILA, Philippines - Days after canceling 19 questionable flood control projects that were funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is ready to bid them out again.

The DPWH recently posted in its website www.dpwh,gov.ph <http://www.dpwh.gov.ph/> that the agency would soon be bidding out some P1.9-billion worth of flood control projects under the “Post Ondoy and Pepeng Short-Term Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project.”

This includes the 19 projects that he ordered cancelled on suspicion of irregularities.

The department also made available to interested contractors the List of Contract Packages for Bidding for the Urgent Rehabilitation of Flood Control Facilities, Post “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” Short-term Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project.

Public Works and Highwways Secretary Rogelio Singson ordered the cancellation of the 19 projects days before President Aquino delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 26.

The contracts of the 19 projects worth P934 million were terminated on the grounds that the projects were allegedly products of negotiated contracts with no bidding, which is a violation of the law.

Another puzzle was that the contracts were reportedly signed on June 18, ahead of the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) that only came out on June 25.