The prices of everything have gone up really bad—for the consumers. This is because of the high taxes being imposed on everything to finance the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program. It would not be so bad if our “sweat, tears and blood” taxes are really going to infrastructure and other government priorities. The trouble is, a lot of it, is going to the pockets of corrupt officials. And this administration is not doing enough to stem the tide.
One example, a stretch of road built by a private company operating in the Cordillera was finished at the cost of P8 million per kilometer. The same stretch of road which was to be widened only—thus should be easier and cheaper— by government will cost P25 million per kilometer.
So what’s the Commission on Audit doing about this? And where are the other supposed watchdogs of government projects.
The big discrepancy is because what had been going on before is still going now. That is, a big amount of the contract price will go to the pockets of local politicians, those who call the shots. As of late, a local politician has to receive first about 30% of a project’s value from the contractor before the project is awarded or contracted out to him. Not only the politician. The people involved in awarding the project will also share in the booty. The result—substandard output.
Yes, this kind of corruption is still going on.
Traditionally, we often look at the DPWh when we hear of corruption. But so much corruption are also going on in other government line agencies like the Department of Agriculture, the NIA, the DECS, the DOH, DOTC, etc. The money being handled by these agencies are in the billions of pesos. Why is it not being stopped?
Because of the corrupt culture in government’s bureaucracies and weak government monitoring and watchdogs.
If this continues, the public’s discontent will become a bomb whose blasting pin is about to be pulled. **