Confession of a modern-day highwayman
Decades ago, I was assigned to interview a rich and well-known engineer who regularly bid for contracts with the government. His first-person account came out in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine (9/11/1988). Caught in the web of corruption that plagued infrastructure projects, he participated in the system but wished he had a choice. He is among the cast of characters in the highway robbery in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The much-shortened version of his confession, so timely for now:
“The DPWH is a perfectly departmentalized system of corruption. Every office is set up to milk you. There are two types of milkers in the department: the garapal and the Mr. Clean types. The garapals make a killing by dealing with contractors directly. The Mr. Cleans are SOBs who use their underlings for the dirty job.
“In the prequalification before the bidding, DPWH people will find ways to disqualify you. They check on your financial state, equipment capability, engineering capacity, and experience. They find fault, waiting for you to pay your way through. These guys are underpaid.
“Bids are rigged. DPWH people sell estimates to bidders. There is no way but to participate in the scheme. If there are five of us bidding, I talk to the other four to sell their bids to me. I then call the estimator for an estimate. I jack up my bid by 5 percent, but my bid would still be the lowest because I have already bought the other bidders. That 5-percent jack-up is divided into five and distributed among the four ‘losing’ bidders and the estimator. See, the four earned money without having to do actual work. I am the one who will do the actual work.
“The ways in the old regime were different from the ways now. In the past, we dealt only with the big guns in the DPWH. Our expenses were fixed. Now it’s a different story. The Mr. Cleans stay clean on top while dirty deals are made below. Those of us in construction have to dish out more now. I was dishing out 10 percent before, now I have to part with 15 to 20 percent of what I get.
“I also want to play Mr. Clean, but how? They’ll steal some of your papers and give you a rough time to slow you down. There is the so-called ‘price escalation committee.’ It takes time for contractors to collect. Our receivables are sitting on desks. A lot of our own money goes out just so we can collect.
“If I had to clean up the system, I’d get people inside who are also SOBs but who will put in good performance. No use for a good guy who is bookish and still trying to learn the system. Former minister Baltazar Aquino was, comparatively speaking, the most successful because he came from the ranks. He knew what was going on. (He did testify big-time against the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.)
“The DPWH has to be professionalized. Employees should have good salaries. That means spending more, but, in the end, there will be less money stolen. I really wish contractors would get contracts at the right price. No rigging, walang dayaan.
“As it is, indirectly, the government is losing from all these shady deals. So much money is going to kickbacks. The government loses; we, the contractors, also lose. Oh yes, I’ve delivered as much as P5 million, cold cash, in one blow. I personally brought it to the house of somebody. You don’t fool around exposing anyone, no marked bills. There’s a kind of code of honor here. You break that and you’re finished. Maraming onsehan, marami ring nababaril.
“How do all these come out in my books? Ah, I will not tell you. In this business, there are three types: the rich, the stupid, and those who refuse to make money.
“I’ve done a lot of big projects—roads, bridges, dams. I can tell you that I delivered well. There are those who will not worry about the inferior roads they built. I think those crooks should be killed. Preparing for a project entails a lot of work. You have to check the project requirements and the area of work, do the design, check the budget. You have to make surveys of your own to find out where projects will be put up. By the time I am awarded the project, I have already spent a million. The trick here is to disqualify other bidding contractors. I know how to do it.
“I had shared a project with a close relative of Imelda Marcos. They always watched me. Tuso raw ako. (I’m clever, they said.) He told me, ‘Hati tayo o ibubulgar ko.’ So I subcontracted for him.
“Poorly paid employees get themselves paid some other way. Makikita mo naman kung sino ang magnanakaw, the cheaters. ‘Yung ibang empleyado diyan, pasigasigarilyo na lang, Salem pa.
“In my rural projects, I also had to pay my way through. I gave thousands worth of medicines to the New People’s Army. In Cagayan Valley, I had some 50 dump trucks. Every day, about 500 liters of gasoline would be stolen. The NPA put a stop to that. But one time, they shot one of my security people. During a battle with the NPA, the soldiers used my dump trucks. These NPAs find ways to befriend you. It’s different out there. Here in Manila, every SOB tries to interfere….”
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