Hallucination

I have no idea what they are putting in the water they drink at Malacanang that causes our officials to hallucinate about the state of our nation. Do they add powdered shabu, crushed marijuana leaves or drops of Fentanyl?

Whatever it is, it sure is potent. It is potent enough to cause an otherwise realistic, feet on the ground type of person like Ben Diokno to start sounding like he is describing a different country. Interviewed by Cathy Yang on ANC, Ben said a number of things he will not be proud of after he leaves government.

Government, Ben told Cathy, has done significant changes in the transport system in the past year. He added that streets are safer, government projects started by previous administration have been completed.

Okay, I get it. Ben has to do some amount of PR bull sh—ing to convince us that the past year of the Duterte watch was not a total waste. I have been in PR and the PR I had been taught stood more for Performance Reporting than mere Public Relations which is bull sh-- ting.

No, Ben, you are probably spending too much time cocooned in your office crunching numbers because those two statements are simply not true. No, the projects the previous administration started have not been completed: Exhibit “A” LRT 2 extension.

No drivers license cards yet. No car license plates yet. The modernization of five bundled airports had been unbundled and implementation delayed by at least a year. Rehab of NAIA, approved by NEDA, had been held in abeyance by Sec Art Tugade.

And No, Ben, your DOTr has done nothing significant in the transport system in the past year. MRT 3 had been bogging down as often, if not more so, during the past year. Traffic is as chaotic as ever. NAIA congestion is still delaying flights. The air conditioning at Terminal 3 had been flaky. And yes, something close to Ben’s heart: the long lines at immigration in our airports are still pretty vexing to international passengers.  

 I know Ben and the economic team laid out the ambitious Build Build Build plan and I have seen Ben passionately present it before various audiences. And I am all out with them in hoping this administration accomplishes all those projects lined up. But honestly, nothing has really started beyond talk.

Indeed, I am even doubtful they were correct to junk PPP in favor of ODA and GAA for this program. They say PPP takes too long… but only because government bureaucrats from NEDA particularly, take a long time giving the go signal. They say PPP is more expensive, but only so far as government requires a premium from the proponents on top of project costs.

I suspect they got blinded by the big ODA offers from China and Japan. But both are less transparent than PPP.  Indeed there had been no public disclosures of how much the loans will cost us, the taxpayers. Sure there are claims that they are “cheap”. But how much exactly is cheap? And what are the conditions in fine print? 

Then, in the case of Chinese sponsored projects, there is a danger that quality will be sacrificed somehow. A $10 million Chinese-built bridge in western Kenya collapsed a week ago. And to think, the Kenyan president personally commissioned it less than two weeks ago.

 Then there is the new Bay Bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco that was subcontracted by Flour Daniels to a Chinese contractor using Chinese steel components. Already it is in trouble due to early rusting.

 The news should worry us in Metro Manila because DPWH Secretary Mark Villar just announced that China is donating two bridges across the Pasig River. Since it is a 100 percent Chinese donation, I imagine its construction will be totally under Chinese control.

 If there is any assurance the Chinese bridges can handle our heavy traffic load, Secretary Villar certainly is being quiet about it. Can we have a say on the choice of Chinese contractor? Remember that in the case of North Rail, the Chinese assigned a trading company with no rail construction experience and the project aborted leaving us in debt to China for a few hundred million dollars.

 On the principle that beggars can’t be choosers, we can’t complain or impose on the Chinese who are after all donating the bridges. But can you imagine if one of those bridges collapses in the murky Pasig River? Ok lang if it collapses while administration and Chinese officials are on it during inauguration. We can call that justice.

 To be fair, I know Ben has the best of intentions and not just to burnish the image of the Duterte administration. I am sure Ben, like me and those of our generation, are eager to see progress in our beloved country within our lifetimes.

 But how can I be confident with proposed projects when they can’t even get right of way for already existing projects?  

 We are talking of an existing project that can as claimed, reduce EDSA traffic by almost half. This is the NLEX-SLEX connector road project of San Miguel. The private sector proponent has contracted two of our country’s top construction firms to work on the project from both ends to speed up its completion: DMCI from the south and EEI from the north. It will be the first major infrastructure that will impact on EDSA traffic.

 But and this is a very big BUT – the project is being delayed by quite a bit because government has failed to deliver the right of way. Initially the Toll Regulatory Board took control of ROW negotiations but the latest I heard, they had to get the more experienced DPWH ROW team to take over.

 Biggest ROW issue now is the section passing through Sta Mesa and San Juan. It will be easier to bypass the problem area and realign the route to San Juan River. It will cost more, but the project can be completed faster.

 That proposed solution was submitted April last year. It slept at DPWH for a year awaiting approval. A no objection letter was received recently, but with conditions. So talks are still ongoing with DPWH.

 A clear no objection letter from DPWH is necessary so TRB can issue a notice to proceed to the contractor. San Miguel has included in the solution the dredging of San Juan River and replacement of Sevilla bridge which is now blocking smooth flow of the water.

 I understand San Miguel may be able to deliver part of the project from Buendia to Quirino by 1Q 2018. But government has to deliver the Sincere Lumber property at the corner of Osmena and Quirino. Up to this moment this problem with Sincere Lumber persists. Also needed is ROW for five lots for Meralco post relocation before the Pedro Gil stoplight. They also need to relocate NGCP posts along the PNR rail line. 

 If government can’t deliver on their ROW responsibility for a vital project, can it be expected to deliver on projects it is supposed to start from scratch?

I reported last week that DPWH Sec Mark Villar delegated the signing of contracts to district engineers, increasing the upper limits of their authority to P100 million per project. That is supposedly to speed up disbursement of funds for projects.

But as one worried observer told me, the district offices may not have the capability to handle that many bigger and more complex projects. Some localities may not have the appropriate contractors.

With the shortened validity of funds availability (one year) short cuts may be made like table surveys instead of actual; non compliance with bidding procedures and requirements, fake accomplishment reports and even ghost projects. This is because the temptation is too great for district engineers to favor contractors who are more willing to spread happiness.

Secretary Diokno’s enthusiasm and eagerness to produce must be lauded. But he has to keep his feet on the ground. Bring his own bottled water to work if need be so as not to suffer the hallucinogenic effects of the water normally served in Malacanang. 

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco