PCIJ WebAlert #3.2009
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rast...@gmail.com
Feb 19, 2009, 4:50:55 AM2/19/09
to PCIJ WebAlert
W H A T ' S N E W @ www.pcij.org
19.February.2009
---------------[ PCIJ Investigation )------
CORRUPTION IN ROAD PROJECTS
WB Suspects, Whistle-blowers Bagged Biggest DPWH Deals
by Roel R. Landingin
Our latest story reveals that the four contractors debarred by the
World Bank anti-corruption unit, the Department of Institutional
Integrity (INT), had received among the biggest contracts, by value,
awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The companies -- CM Pancho Construction, E.C. de Luna Construction
Corporation, Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development
Corporation, and China State Construction Engineering Corporation --
secured a combined P1.6 billion worth of DPWH contracts, from 2005 to
2008, or even while the INT inquiry was under way or had wrapped up.
However, the contractors who had been spared from sanctions --
apparently because they blew the whistle on the alleged cartel of
contractors, bureaucrats and politicians rigging public works projects
-- in fact obtaine an even amount of contracts from the DPWH.
Four of these firms that served as “whistle-blowers” or witnesses of
the INT – Wee Eng Construction, Inc. R.D. Policarpio, P.L. Sebastian
and J. M. Luciano Corporation -- received contracts altogether worth
P2.28 billion, or 42 per cent more than the contracts bagged by the
sanctioned contractors. Of the P2.28 billion, about half or P1.1
billion went to Wee Eng, which bagged at least 24 project contracts
from the DPWH, including 17 contracts signed in a week's time, or from
Nov. 17 to 24, 2006.
To do this story, the PCIJ mined the 1,102 web pages of data on
awarded contracts from 2000 to 2008 that the DPWH has posted on its
web site, www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The PCIJ has requested the DPWH for an electronic spreadsheet version
of the data but was told that it has yet to secure approval from DPWH
Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane. If approved, the DPWH said it could only
provide the PCIJ static PDF copies of the data.
Hence, to acquire and mine the database, the PCIJ developed a software
application that copies each of the web pages and compiles the data
into comma-separated values (CSV) format. The PCIJ will make this
database available online on www.pcij.org and www.i-site.ph for
journalists and citizens to study further.
Read on at http://pcij.org
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3513
SIDEBAR
WB Probers Caught Cheats, Almost
http://www.pcij.org/stories/2009/dpwh-deals3.html#sidebar1
SEE ALSO:
$45M Lost to Bribes for ‘Cartel’ Backed by DPWH Execs, Pols
by Malou Mangahas
CORRUPTED TO the core, and entirely, by a “cartel” of kickback-takers
with support from the highest levels of the Philippine government.
In gist, this is the damning conclusion of the World Bank's anti-
corruption unit, the powerful and dreaded Department of Institutional
Integrity (INT) regarding the Bank-funded National Road Improvement
and Management Project-1 (NRIMP-1).
Read on at http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2009/nrimp-cartel.html
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3509
SIDEBARS
The COnfidential Witnesses
http://www.pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/nrimp/WB_Confidential_Witnesses.pdf
What the Witnesses Said
http://www.pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/nrimp/WB_What_the_Witnesses_Said.pdf
----------
World Bank Report: A Mix of Facts, Rumor, Innuendo
by Malou Mangahas
IN INVESTIGATING the alleged collusion and overpricing of World Bank-
funded road projects in the Philippines, the international financial
institution’s powerful and dreaded anti-corruption unit, the
Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), conducted interviews for
almost three years in at least three countries. By the time it wound
up its work, it had interviewed some 60 people.
The 230-page Part II of the Notice of Sanctions Proceedings is perhaps
the first solid and extensive documentation of the myriad, if also
conflicting, cases of collusion and corruption in the public works
sector, according to industry players themselves.
Read on at http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2009/wb-report.html
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3493
19.February.2009
---------------[ PCIJ Investigation )------
CORRUPTION IN ROAD PROJECTS
WB Suspects, Whistle-blowers Bagged Biggest DPWH Deals
by Roel R. Landingin
Our latest story reveals that the four contractors debarred by the
World Bank anti-corruption unit, the Department of Institutional
Integrity (INT), had received among the biggest contracts, by value,
awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The companies -- CM Pancho Construction, E.C. de Luna Construction
Corporation, Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development
Corporation, and China State Construction Engineering Corporation --
secured a combined P1.6 billion worth of DPWH contracts, from 2005 to
2008, or even while the INT inquiry was under way or had wrapped up.
However, the contractors who had been spared from sanctions --
apparently because they blew the whistle on the alleged cartel of
contractors, bureaucrats and politicians rigging public works projects
-- in fact obtaine an even amount of contracts from the DPWH.
Four of these firms that served as “whistle-blowers” or witnesses of
the INT – Wee Eng Construction, Inc. R.D. Policarpio, P.L. Sebastian
and J. M. Luciano Corporation -- received contracts altogether worth
P2.28 billion, or 42 per cent more than the contracts bagged by the
sanctioned contractors. Of the P2.28 billion, about half or P1.1
billion went to Wee Eng, which bagged at least 24 project contracts
from the DPWH, including 17 contracts signed in a week's time, or from
Nov. 17 to 24, 2006.
To do this story, the PCIJ mined the 1,102 web pages of data on
awarded contracts from 2000 to 2008 that the DPWH has posted on its
web site, www.dpwh.gov.ph.
The PCIJ has requested the DPWH for an electronic spreadsheet version
of the data but was told that it has yet to secure approval from DPWH
Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane. If approved, the DPWH said it could only
provide the PCIJ static PDF copies of the data.
Hence, to acquire and mine the database, the PCIJ developed a software
application that copies each of the web pages and compiles the data
into comma-separated values (CSV) format. The PCIJ will make this
database available online on www.pcij.org and www.i-site.ph for
journalists and citizens to study further.
Read on at http://pcij.org
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3513
SIDEBAR
WB Probers Caught Cheats, Almost
http://www.pcij.org/stories/2009/dpwh-deals3.html#sidebar1
SEE ALSO:
$45M Lost to Bribes for ‘Cartel’ Backed by DPWH Execs, Pols
by Malou Mangahas
CORRUPTED TO the core, and entirely, by a “cartel” of kickback-takers
with support from the highest levels of the Philippine government.
In gist, this is the damning conclusion of the World Bank's anti-
corruption unit, the powerful and dreaded Department of Institutional
Integrity (INT) regarding the Bank-funded National Road Improvement
and Management Project-1 (NRIMP-1).
Read on at http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2009/nrimp-cartel.html
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3509
SIDEBARS
The COnfidential Witnesses
http://www.pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/nrimp/WB_Confidential_Witnesses.pdf
What the Witnesses Said
http://www.pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/nrimp/WB_What_the_Witnesses_Said.pdf
----------
World Bank Report: A Mix of Facts, Rumor, Innuendo
by Malou Mangahas
IN INVESTIGATING the alleged collusion and overpricing of World Bank-
funded road projects in the Philippines, the international financial
institution’s powerful and dreaded anti-corruption unit, the
Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), conducted interviews for
almost three years in at least three countries. By the time it wound
up its work, it had interviewed some 60 people.
The 230-page Part II of the Notice of Sanctions Proceedings is perhaps
the first solid and extensive documentation of the myriad, if also
conflicting, cases of collusion and corruption in the public works
sector, according to industry players themselves.
Read on at http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2009/wb-report.html
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=3493
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