I watched the ANC interview of Sec. Manuel Bonoan held recently. It was interesting to note that he was obviously “lying through his teeth”.
Why he continues to be the head of our main infrastructure agency defies a sane explanation. The President himself is complaining in public that his department has largely botched its job and yet he is still in his position.
He gives answers to reporters’ questions with almost no emotion. So calm, it defies logic. The use and misuse by DPWH of trillions of pesos of taxpayers’ money over the years has surprisingly left him unscathed, not even the subterfuge of a transfer to another department or position in government.
He blunted attacks on the allegedly rigged biddings at DPWH by saying they cannot impose what is not in the Procurement law and the government rules on public bidding implying that the law has to be amended before the DPWH can clamp down on illegal procurement and awards to undeserving contractors as well as to improve monitoring of projects.
In effect he blamed lawmakers for the defects of the bidding process at DPWH and their failure to curb corruption.
But in the closing minutes of his interview, conducted by Karen Davila, he used the phrase “it takes two to tango”.
When is this term sued? The term emphasizes that both people involved in a difficult situation must accept the blame or that an activity needs two people who are willing to take part for it to happen.
He is saying this in the context of the investigation of the ghost or substandard infrastructure projects?
He is saying that the DPWH alone is not to be singled out and blamed. Who is the other party? Maybe it the official who allotted the funds to his agency?
And there is one more thing. He said as long as the contractor is accredited by the Philippine Contractor Accreditation Board (PCAB) there is no basis for disqualifying a contractor from a bidding.
Then how about contractors which have abandoned projects, violated COA rules, experienced significant delays in implementation? They simply look the other way and award projects to them?
We do not have to go far. The crisis at the San Juanico Bridge may not be a case of corruption but it is a vivid example of defective management decisions.
Therefore, the nagging question is: After all these fiascos why is Sec. Bonoan still at his post?
Maybe it is only a matter of time. I have heard he is set to retire from government service before these corruption scandals blow in his face.
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