Overpriced rollerballs and a PR campaign

On my last drive along Marcos Highway going to Baguio City a month ago, I could not help but notice a series of colorful rollers on parts of the highway. Instead of the standard long metal guard rails that help prevent vehicles from jumping off the road, I saw those plastic or rubberized roller balls, one on top of another the size of a volleyball.

Judging from what I saw, I assumed that the design would make a car roll along to the side instead of slamming into those hard metal or concrete barriers. The design was modern, colorful and seemed to make perfect sense.

I assumed that they were test models because they were placed few and far between. Some were on a curve while a couple were on a straight part along Marcos Highway. Last weekend, I managed to pay a courtesy visit to Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, and I found out that those rollerball barriers were demo units.

Some outfit or group had offered to put them up for demonstration and as test models. But as it turns out, they were being “set-up” or on demonstration as “proof of concept” in order to get endorsement from the regional DPWH and get funding from congressmen in the region. If the demonstration gets the green light and funding, they could eventually be installed in every region and province in the Philippines.

It seemed like a progressive plan until…somebody misplaced a piece of paper that contained the DUPA or Detailed Unit Price Analysis for every piece of two-ball rollers amounting to P121,330 per meter. According to Mayor Magalong, someone researched the same products from China and the unit cost was $225 or landed cost in Manila at P20K.

If Mayor Magalong got his information right, then the profit margin per set of rollers would be P100,000. Looking deeper into the matter, I was informed that the indecent proposal was six percent to mayors and more to whoever secures the funding for the project and, allegedly, a special fund of 26 percent to the “approving body” for the fund. The rest will be “for the boys.”

If one set of two rollerballs is overpriced by P100,000 or P300K per meter, how many billion pesos would be stolen in public funds through the DPWH for thousands of kilometers where the rollerball barriers would be installed?

Given how Google can provide product prices if you have the technical details or company name of the maker, here’s another shocker for those of you who have been asking about how much those reflectors/ “cat eyes” on the highways and streets of Metro Manila cost.

According to Mayor Magalong, the DUPA on proposals quote them as P11,720 per piece. When they checked, the unit cost was allegedly P1,800 or an over price of P9,920. I guess this is also the reason why certain members of Congress insist on the right to choose who is appointed by the DPWH in their district. No wonder we owe $16 trillion with barely anything to show for it!

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In less than 24 hours, the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk movement had emailed a response to the contents of my most recent article “Island grabbers.” In their email blast, the group laid out their history as indigenous people, their process of establishing their “corporate entity” and also included their legal papers and videos of alleged abuses done to them.

In addition, they also called out to their critic, Chieftain Ariel Monsarapa of the Molbog-Balabac IP community, to unite with them instead of accusing them of being outsiders and not indigenous people of Balabac.

As per their request and as a matter of courtesy and fairness, I give that much space to the Sambilog group but that’s as far as I go because their statement was not confined to the evident “turf war” or counter claims of one tribe versus another or IP identity crisis but has been escalated to a PR campaign.

The Sambilog statement turned into a leftist-styled corporate bashing of San Miguel Corporation, Jewelmer Corporation and the Department of Agrarian Reform. They even inserted an announcement and invite to a nine-day protest vigil in front of the DAR office.

What first caught my curiosity was the speed in the group’s reply, given that my column saw print early in the morning and the reply was sent by 5:05 p.m. of the same day. Given my years of experience in media and training so many individuals and companies on communications management, it is a rare day when such replies are produced, approved and issued all in under 12 hours, unless they were prepared and pre-positioned in advance.

Perhaps, the Sambilog group are real experts in communications, but when they dragged third parties into the narrative using the “style” and language of organized groups, their actions supported the claims of Chieftain Molbog calling them “illegitimate.” Like I said, things like these should be looked into by the government, DOJ and NBI because it has happened so many times in the past.

Whether the issue is tribal, commercial or even criminal intent, time for DOJ to show some effort alongside the PNP and not wait for things to get out of hand. It’s bad for communities, bad for government, bad for business and definitely not good for tourism.

The DOJ, DILG and the PNP could work with the provincial government to investigate the matter and determine who the real indigenous people of Balabac are. If anyone knows the real deal, it would be the people of Palawan.

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