“MAPping The Future” Column in INQUIRER – 26 July 2010
President Aquino’s Anti Corruption Agenda
By Manuel A. Alcuaz, Jr.
P-Noy’s main campaign message was “no corruption, no poverty” and his promise was “I will
bring honest governance”.
How can P-Noy reverse the culture of corruption that has been one of the main themes of the
Arroyo administration?
Corruption has become so pervasive and expensive that we sometimes long for the good old 10
percenters of Marcos days. Perhaps that is why the Marcoses have had election success.
This culture of corruption is not just in the government sector.
A foreign friend of mine who sells medical equipment asks me what is wrong with the Philippines.
I asked why? He says that doctors in hospitals he is selling medical equipment to ask for 30%
commission! No wonder that the cost of medical care keeps on rising and becoming unbearable for rich and
poor alike.
What is sad is that these are doctors are not underpaid government officials and employees!
Government is, however, still more corrupt. My friend was also selling to a municipal hospital. He
says the mayor called him to complain about his proposal. My friend said, “But Mayor, I already gave you
my best price.” The mayor said, “double it!”
Bringing honesty back to the Philippines will be a tough job for President Aquino. What should he
do?
There are four major thrusts that the President should have:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bring closure to major outstanding anomalous cases.
Identify other major anomalous projects.
Prevent future anomalies.
Discourage corruption and dishonesty
Closure on Outstanding Anomalies
There are many unresolved anomalies which the Arroyo administration has protected.
In 2004, the Supreme Court stopped the Mega Pacific COMELEC automation contract and
recommended that charges be filed.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said there was insufficient evidence.
There are many others like the fertilizer scam, NBN-ZTE, Hello Garci, etc.
To be able to successfully prosecute these cases, it may be necessary to first impeach the
Ombudsman.
Investigation of Other Anomalies
There are a number of giant government procurements which look suspiciously anomalous.
One case is the COMELEC Smartmatic Automated Election System. A serious investigation will
show that there was bias in favor of Smartmatic in the bid evaluation, in the contract terms, and in the
failure to properly test the PCOS machines.
The continued importations of rice should likewise be investigated.
The P500 million Batangas Geographic Information System (GIS) project and the P50 million
Pampanga GIS project should be looked into.
I am not familiar with public works projects; however, I feel that investigation will uncover
numerous cases.
Amendment of the Procurement Reform Law
While it is frequently said that we have many good laws, what we need is better implementation.
There is one big exception, the RA 9184 or the Procurement Reform Law. Many of the anomalous
projects we have mentioned were made possible by taking advantage of many weaknesses of the law.
The law has the following weaknesses:
1. Section 32 provides for pass or fail criteria and the selection of the lowest qualified bidder (looks
good!)
2. But Section 36 provides for bids with a single qualified bidder to push thru.
Corrupt bidders and officials take advantage of these procedures to favor a bidder not necessarily with
the lowest bid but one with the highest bribes.
Section 33 provides for weighted scoring in the choice of consultants.
However, the process does not provide for a comparison of all the bidders.
All bidders are rated but the law does not allow the opening of all the financial bids. The technical bids
are rated and ranked. The qualifications of the bidders are checked for qualification.
The financial bid of the qualified bidder with highest rating is opened first.
If the bid is within the budget, the bid is awarded.
Unfortunately, there could have been much more cost-effective bids which are not considered. This
is a lost opportunity for government.
Prevention of Future Graft
An administration with the political will to investigate and prosecute anomalous government
procurement will discourage future anomalous bids.
Bidders and government officials will not risk being caught.
Government will get better value and be able to provide better infrastructure, health care, and
education at lower cost.
Businesses will thrive and provide increased employment. Poverty will be dramatically reduced.
(The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management
Association of the Philippines. The author is President of Systems Sciences Consult, Inc. and member of the MAP
National Issues Committee.
Feedback at map@globelines.com.ph.
For previous articles, please visit
<map.org.ph>.)
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