The World Bank and biddings

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The revelation of thOe World Bank that it has banned some highly-financed contractors from participating in any government project it is funding has, in fact, come out a little too late. However, as the old saying goes, It is better late than never.

For Filipinos, the World Bank disclosures are hardly surprising. Through the years, the perception had been growing stronger and stronger about the rampant graft and corruption that accompanies projects being implemented, especially by the Department of Public Works and Highways. How many times have we discovered road projects, funded by millions of dollars from the World Bank and intended to make easier the transport of goods and products from the countrysides to the market, crumble or collapse after a few months of use? How often do we hear of buildings, even multi-million undertakings, with leaking roofs, substandard materials and shortchanged structures?

Even such a grandiose facility as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal, that had not even been operational or inaugurated disgraced its builders when the ceiling over its arrival area, collapsed one day. At least those in charge were thankful for the delay in operating it. Had it been in use then, there might have been some victims during the collapse.

The alarum bells sounded by the World Bank has found echoes in local governments whose leaders are now becoming more careful about their projects, especially those that require bidding. The process is supposed to ensure that projects being implemented are transparent and fair to all who participate. And yet, corruption has most often been traced to as early as the bidding phase.

It is therefore heartening to see that we now have local groups who have taken it upon themselves to be the watchdogs in such processes. How much more the improvements in our local governments would have been had the funds, particularly generous World Bank funds, intended for them had fully found their way into the projects.

So, aside from just encouraging these watchdog groups, let us help them by monitoring as closely as we can all projects, whether funded by international, national, or local sources, so that every centavo is actually spent on the intended project.*