Curlee Discaya details bid rigging modus in gov't projects

Contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Disacaya on Tuesday claimed that the bidding process for government projects is usually rigged as the winning contractors are already predetermined. 

Discaya told the Senate blue ribbon committee that so-called “takers” or owners of the projects have already been in touch with the Bids and Awards Committee to secure the project or they would pay advances to the congressman. 

“Ang taker ng proyekto ay ang mga may-ari ng projects. Sila ay mayroong mga nakausap sa loob ng Bids and Awards Committee o ang mga BAC upang makasigurado na sa kanila mapupunta ang project. Maaring nabili na nila ang proyekto mula sa congressman at hinihintay na lang lumabas ang resulta ng bidding,” he said in his affidavit read before the committee.

(The 'takers' of the projects are the project owners. They have people they've spoken to inside the Bids and Awards Committee, or the BAC, to ensure that the project goes to them. They may have already bought the project from a congressman and are just waiting for the bidding result to come out.) 

“Sa umpisa pa lamang ay rigged na ang bidding dahil hindi pa nagsisimula ang pinaka-bidding ay may nakabili na ng proyekto o may mga nakatakda nang manalo. Kadalasan upang makakuha ng proyekto ang mga contractor ay nagbibigay ng mga advances sa mga pulitiko upang ma-reserve ang isang proyekto at siguradong sa kanila mapupunta, dahil hawak ng mga pulitiko kadalasan ang mga tao sa Bids and Awards Committee. Ito ang sinasabi nilang SOP,” Discaya added. 

(The bidding is rigged from the very beginning because even before the actual bidding starts, someone has already bought the project or there are already pre-determined winners. Often, to get a project, contractors give advances to politicians to reserve a project and ensure it goes to them, because politicians often control the people in the Bids and Awards Committee. This is what they call SOP.) 

Pacifico and his wife Sarah are the owners of several construction firms which secured some of the government’s flood control projects. 

Discaya alleged that so-called “negotiators” would ask interested bidders if they will “susugod, makikisama, or mananahod” These negotiators in the DPWH will have to check first your financial documents, he added. 

“Tapos ang gagawin nila, bago ka makapag-drop ng bidding, kailangan ipasilip ninyo 'yung mga financial documents ninyo. Dahil kung hindi po, idi-disqualify ka nila o di kaya pupunitan ng mga dokumento, pipilasan, babawasan, kasi po may appointed taker na sila,” he said. 

(Then what they do is, before you can drop your bid, you need to show them your financial documents. Because if you don't, they will disqualify you or they will tear, trim, or reduce your documents because they already have an appointed taker.) 

“Kaya minsan po, tatanungin ka nila, ‘ano ito laban or makikisama or mananahod?’ kapag sinabing mananahod or makikisama, hindi ka nila pipilasan, kasama ka pa doon sa share na hatian ng percentage.” 

But if you choose to still push through with the bidding, Discaya said that there’s a chance that the district engineer will tell you to back out if you win in favor of another contractor. 

“Kapag susugod ka naman, 'yung laban po ang gagawin ninyo, tatakutin mo sila, ang mangyayari po idi-disqualify ka nila agad at kapag nanalo ka naman po, ang mangyayari naman po ay tatawagan ng negotiator o kaya minsan po tatawagan ka na po ng district engineer, papakiusapan ka po para umatras or pag hindi po, mahihirapan ka rin sa implementation, hindi ka mananalo,” he said. 

(But if you choose to fight back and try to scare them, what will happen is they will immediately disqualify you, and even if you win, what will happen is the negotiator or sometimes the district engineer will call you, plead with you to back out, or if you don't, you will have a difficult time with the implementation, and you will not win.)

Further, Discaya said that he tried to expose such a scheme in newspapers, adding that he still has newspaper clippings of his revelations. 

“Ilang beses namin sinubukang labanan ang prosesong ito sa pamamagitan ng pag-report at pagpapadyaryo sa mga tiwaling kawani ng gobyerno. Ngunit hindi lahat ay nadadala dito,” he said. 

(We tried to fight this process several times by reporting and going to the newspapers about the corrupt government officials. But not everyone seems affected.)

“Naisip ko noon na kung magpapatuloy ang ganitong sistema ay hindi ako kailanman magkakaroon ng kahit anong proyekto dahil lantarang pandaraya ng mga kawani ng gobyerno.” 

(I thought then that if this system continues, I will never get any project because of the blatant cheating by government officials.) 

For his part, former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan was surprised with the statement of Discaya. 

“Your honor, this is very revealing that I’m hearing now [...] This is very revealing, your honor. This is the loophole actually of manual bidding….In my watch, your honor, I recall that I’ve been signing, blacklisting of contractors because of three-strike policy, because of this bidding procedures that he has narrated now,” he told the Senate panel. —AOL, GMA Integrated News