Big Brother eyes projects

Eager to know the real score on the administration’s projects, I sought a meeting with Budget Secretary Ben Diokno last week. I don’t trust press releases, but I can still trust Ben, an old friend, to tell me the truth in a face-to-face conversation.

Ben was quick to reassure that they are on track. They have the usual teething problems, he said, but he is confident they are over that by now. As he had said a few months ago in a speech before the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) they are holding Cabinet members accountable for their performance.

Of course, it is easy to say that motherhood statement, but Ben says they are deploying technology to verify what is happening on the ground.

Together with DOST, the budget department launched Project DIME, or “Digital Imaging for Monitoring and Evaluation.” In so many words, Ben is deploying Big Brother techniques to make sure what Cabinet members are reporting to the President is true.

I never thought I would be happy to learn Big Brother surveillance is being used by my government. Just the other day, a friend told me to be careful about what I text or say over the phone (cell or landline). You and I are being monitored, he warned.

If that’s happening, I should be embarrassed. They will read the grocery list from the kasambahay and how my wife monitors where I am through texting.

Maybe it isn’t just my wife monitoring me. That probably explains the long delay between the time I send a text message and the time whoever I sent it to gets it. It has to pass through a censor and since the censor is a bureaucrat who loves red tape, it takes time to clear.

Seriously, Ben is one top official I can certify to be honestly oriented towards making sure the public is properly served. He has put his reputation on the line in Build Build Build and he is not about to allow that reputation to be ruined.

So Ben is making sure. He asked DOST to help monitor government projects using digital data, imaging technologies and the like. Using technology to make sure projects are moving is good. That means Ben is up to date on the real status and speed of project implementation, especially the big ticket projects.

The DOST now has various technologies and expertise on data acquisition that can be used in Project DIME. These include Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), Open Roads Platform and Geostore, and Geotagging. Satellites and drones will also be used to cover areas which cannot be monitored through LIDAR.

They tested the program last year when they initially monitored sample projects including DENR’s National Greening Program, NIA’s National/Communal Irrigation Systems, and DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program.

What they found out enabled Ben’s DBM to evaluate the status of the projects and recommend to continue or discontinue the funding of a project… or how to improve delivery of the project.

What’s more, Ben is not going to depend only on the current bureaucracy. He has hired fresh top graduates in economics, engineering and other sciences who are still full of youthful idealism and love of country to help him. It isn’t business as usual for these young people. And they are tech savvy.

Among the projects Ben selected for monitoring through Project DIME are:

DPWH’s construction/improvement of access roads leading to seaports and airports, DOTr’s North-South Commuter Railway (PNR North), DSWD’s Conditional Cash Transfer Program, DepEd’s Basic Education Facilities, CHED’s Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, DND’s AFP Modernization Program, DILG’s Local Governance Performance Management Program, DA’s Agricultural Machinery, Equipment, Facilities, and Infrastructures Program, DICT’s Free Wi-Fi Internet Access, and DA-BFAR’s National Fisheries Program.

Monitoring of DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program, DENR’s National Greening Program, and NIA’s  National/Communal Irrigation Systems will also be continued. Other projects to be monitored in the future, such as those being implemented in disaster-prone areas, will also be included.

“Project DIME will help ensure that every peso allocated to government programs and projects will be used efficiently and effectively,” Ben said.

I asked Ben about DOTr projects that had ceremonial groundbreaking and “station marking” whatever that is… and he said these would also be monitored by Project DIME. I asked about DOTr’s claim that construction has started on the Tutuban to Malolos rail line and he said maybe they are clearing the area preparatory to actual construction.

That was neither here nor there because maybe Project DIME is not up yet. Ben promised to set up a website where the status of flagship projects can be checked against the approved timeline. We can also click on a photo and see a real time video of the work site. He promised the website would be up by the end of the second quarter.

I think Ben and the budget department acting as the “bastonero” to ensure progress in BBB, is a great idea. I told Ben that foreign analysts have been contacting me to ask about the real score on BBB. They are worried because they have based their optimistic forecasts on the assumption that BBB would start delivering this year. I have to tell them there is still a high execution risk.

Ben reassured me the economic managers and the President himself will not allow BBB to falter. The jobs of Cabinet members are at stake. It is all systems go by now, Ben said with a lot of conviction.

Hope Hicks, US President Trump’s trusted communications adviser admitted to a congressional panel she told white lies for the President and subsequently had to resign. Luckily for Ben, he has Big Brother to help him avoid having to tell lies, white or otherwise, about BBB. We can see progress or lack of it with our own eyes.

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