EDITORIAL - Congressmen, contractors

After grabbing yet another chance at publicity, members of the House of Representatives have found the case of the contractors permanently banned or suspended by the World Bank too hot to handle. The seven contractors were barred from bidding for WB-funded projects in the Philippines after the bank established that the seven — three Filipino firms and four Chinese — had colluded and acted as a cartel to rig biddings for the projects.

The World Bank headquarters in Washington forwarded the findings to the Department of Finance and the Office of the Ombudsman last year for appropriate action. Filipinos are still waiting for that action. Last month the bank announced the suspension of six of the contractors and the permanent ban on EC de Luna Construction Corp.

Congressmen, saying they received no copy of the World Bank report, terminated their investigation after only two days and cleared the contractors of collusion. One lawmaker said it is the World Bank, not the contractors, that should face sanctions in this case. Perhaps the lawmakers lacked evidence of collusion. Or perhaps the probe was touching too close to home and congressmen wanted the scandal to simply go away, the sooner the better, like a painful, ugly boil.

The World Bank report accused the contractors of engaging in a “collusive scheme” that also involved “politicians and government officials, whereby awards were directed to particular contractors in exchange for bribes, kickbacks and payments to designated losing bidders.”

Under normal circumstances, that kind of indictment would make lawmakers jump all over themselves to conduct an inquiry. If lawmakers are uncharacteristically gun-shy in this case, it may be because they feel the contractors’ pain. A study undertaken by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism showed that several congressmen, including members of the committee that investigated the World Bank case, own assets in construction companies.

If these lawmakers have not engaged in anything illegal, they should have nothing to fear. Congress is not expected to act as a trial court or Ombudsman in this case, but only to pass remedial legislation that will streamline bidding and procurement processes. Is the House of Representatives up to the task?