Infrastructure pricing rules issued

MANILA, Philippines — Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has issued new guidelines for the preparation of Detailed Unit Price Analysis (DUPA) of all infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, as it moves to eradicate the built-in overprice of government infrastructure projects of the DPWH.

In an order issued last Feb. 3, Dizon instituted the Guidelines and Procedures for the Preparation and Standardization of the Detailed Unit Price Analysis in line with his push to get the DPWH “to implement right projects at the right cost” and to uphold consistency, transparency, and accountability in cost estimation of DPWH infrastructure projects.

“This Department Order shall apply to all Implementing Offices of the DPWH and shall govern the preparation, submission, evaluation, and standardization of DUPAs across all categories of public works, including, but not limited to, roads, bridges, flood control structures, drainage systems and other civil engineering works,” Dizon said in Department Order 12.

Under the guidelines, Dizon has tasked the DPWH Bureau of Construction, through its Pre-Construction Division to come up with the DUPA report on all DPWH road, bridge, flood control structures, drainage systems and other civil engineering works.

The move is corollary to the main effort of Dizon to put an end to the systemic corruption and built-in overprice of DPWH projects that was exposed by the ghost flood control projects scandal that erupted last year.