DPWH to livestream bidding, procurement activities

As part of efforts to ensure transparency in the government, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has announced it will livestream the bidding for its projects.

In a Facebook post, the DPWH said all of the bidding and procurement activities of the agency’s central office, regional offices as well its district engineering offices can be watched live on its official YouTube channel.

The Public Works Department’s move to livestream its bidding process came amid the ongoing probe into the alleged billions of pesos worth of kickback scheme in infrastructure projects, particularly flood control contracts involving project contractors, district engineers, and lawmakers.

On Tuesday, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon signed a memorandum of agreement with the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP) to develop a blockchain-powered digital ledger initially for foreign-assisted infrastructure projects, which will be accessible to the public.

In his remarks, the DPWH chief lamented the lack of transparency in the budgeting, bidding, and procurement processes within the agency’s district engineering offices, describing the agency as “very decentralized.”

“There are 300 district offices… each are a kingdom of its own and nobody is checking them… They are their own little kingdoms and they are the kings. That will change,” Dizon said.

“From the budget process to the procurement process, to the award of the contract, to the implementation of the project, to the monitoring of the project, to the payments made to the contractors, to the acceptance of the project. Everyone should be watching now, everyone,” the DPWH chief said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News