Leviste wants districts to keep savings from 'efficient' flood control projects

Congressional districts should be allowed to keep the savings from properly implemented programs such as flood control projects as a form of incentive, according to Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.

Leviste made the suggestion a day after filing a complaint against a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) District Engineer who he claimed tried to bribe him with P3 million to dissuade him from launching a probe into anomalous projects on supposed "SOP" standard operating procedure or kickbacks for government projects.

“Iyong political reality is mahirap na ibaba iyong SOP kaagad. Pero baka pwede din po may incentive na kung makatipid ang isang distrito sa cost ng project na maganda pa ang gawa, ‘yung savings ay pwedeng mag-stay pa sa distrito na ‘yun,” Leviste said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB interview on Wednesday. 

(The political reality is that you can't remove that SOP in an instant. But if the district was able to save money due to efficient implementation of the project and the project turned out to be of high quality, the savings should stay with that district.) 

“Kasi sa ngayon, kung makatipid ang isang distrito sa cost ng mga project, ibinabalik lang po sa National Treasury,” explained Leviste.  

(Because as it is, the savings have to be returned to the National Treasury.)

Leviste said he is considering filing a bill that will amend the procurement law by providing incentives to low-cost, good-quality projects.

“Sana ‘yung mga magagandang [gawain ng] mga distrito ang mabigyan naman po ng karagdagang support ng national government,” he said. 

(Those districts posting good performance should receive additional support from the government.) 

Leviste also said that the law should also be amended so that the bidding of the lower-priced infrastructure projects will be devolved to the local government units rather than the DPWH.  

“The bidding of small-ticket projects should be devolved to the LGUs because in my district, the cost of the covered court built by the municipality is cheaper than the one built by DPWH,” he said.  

“Maybe, if the project is under DPWH, there are a lot of interventions. If the bidding is done by the LGU alone, the implementation of the project will be more efficient,” he added. –Llanesca T. Panti/ VAL, GMA Integrated News