Business as usual?

A newly rehabilitated portion of EDSA developed potholes after just a few days of intermittent heavy downpour.

In Barangay Prenza II in Marilao, Bulacan, a river wall meant for flood control costing P5 million, which was finished just two months ago, also collapsed last Monday amid the monsoon rains. The contractor, JB Construction, denied that the project is substandard, and instead blamed the collapse on water-saturated soil. But aren’t such structural interventions supposed to be designed to withstand such a possibility? Was soil erosion not factored into the pre-construction assessment for structural integrity?

Marilao Mayor Jemina Sy told residents that the municipal government had ordered JB Construction to rebuild the river wall at its own expense.

Accidents happen and nature’s wrath is unpredictable. But seeing all those millions in public funds going down the drain, surely I’m not the only one wondering: why can’t we Filipinos build roads that don’t disintegrate in the rain, or bridges that don’t collapse from the weight of a truck, or flood control structures that actually mitigate flooding?

Are we too stupid, or are we simply rotten to the core, unable to resist stealing other people’s hard-earned money? Can’t we do anything right?

I have an abiding faith in the capabilities of the Pinoy. Our people thrive and excel when immersed in an enabling environment – one where surnames, connections or religious affiliation don’t determine eligibility for critical jobs, or where there’s no need to grease pockets to bag contracts or obtain government services.

And I do believe it’s possible to produce quality roads. We have decent engineers who can do the job right. The pavement in my part of town has withstood heavy downpours and earthquakes for over a decade now, without developing potholes or cracks.

So it’s infuriating to see a months-old rehabilitated road disintegrating after just a week of rain. Or, for that matter, a brand-new steel-and-concrete bridge collapsing from the weight of passing delivery trucks. If a bridge costing P1.2 billion can’t handle trucks, why build it? You don’t spend billions simply for the use of pedicabs and kuliglig.

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Inadequate infrastructure is one of the main disincentives to investments in our country. Slapdash, puede na rin work isn’t going to cure this problem.

The contractor of the EDSA portion that melted in the rain would be made to repair the potholes at no cost to the government, according to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, who cussed at the sight of the damage. That should deflect the cussing that he himself received from irate folks who got stuck in the flood and traffic in that spot that he learned lacked drainage.

Dizon did not name the private contractor, identified in some reports as Readycon Trading and Construction. The DPWH reportedly awarded Readycon the P4-billion EDSA rehabilitation project plus a P1.18-billion maintenance contract.

We have yet to hear from Readycon, which has previously had joint ventures with E. Gardiola Construction, owned by the family of CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola.

In November last year, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste had accused Gardiola of “pre-ordering” P22 billion worth of projects in the proposed DPWH budget for 2025, and then allegedly rigging bids together with DPWH crooks to award the projects to Readycon and S-Ang Construction & General Trading Inc.

“Congressman Edwin Gardiola is the top DPWH contractor in Congress today,” Leviste said at the time. He himself now faces an ombudsman investigation for possible plunder related to “ghost electricity.”

There’s persistent suspicion that it’s still business as usual in the DPWH. As in drug trafficking, the ginormous amounts to be made from public works corruption must be irresistible.

With several personalities held without bail (except for lucky VIPs like Bong Revilla) for the still unresolved flood control and budget corruption scandal, you’d think it would put the fear of God into crooks.

Apparently, we thought wrong.

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Visiting our Asian neighbors, you can’t help envying the improvement in their public infrastructure. In some places, the bridges are so well-made they have been turned into Instagram-worthy tourist attractions.

Our governance system is not designed for long-term, strategic planning and implementation of development programs.

A strong political party system, with just two or three major parties, would have allowed for planning continuity even with regular elections, down to the local governments. The party becomes accountable for policy failures and suffers the fallout from individual party members’ incompetence or transgressions. Party members also know each other’s capabilities and won’t allow incompetent clowns to lead; it’s the cream that rises to the top.

Under our current no-party system, it’s every person for his/herself, with lawmakers and local government officials thinking in three-year increments for their pet projects. They hope to continue their policies and projects not through any party, but through reelection or dynastic succession.

Even the presidency is governed by parochial and family interests, with no stable political party on which policies and long-term projects can be anchored for continuity.

This would be tolerable if family-controlled governance didn’t sabotage the system of checks and balances, and if the family has a record of competence and honesty.

Our technocrats produce impressive long-term development plans and we pay a fortune for top-quality project feasibility studies. But all the best intentions become waylaid by corruption, from the awarding of the contract to the actual implementation. Contracts may also be canceled or dramatically amended to favor crooks, not just from one presidency to the next, but from one Cabinet secretary to a new one.

People join the government not to become genuine public servants working for the national interest, but to pursue one concern: how to get rich ASAP. The overriding question is, what’s in it for me?

And because of the weakness of the rule of law, with the nation notorious for having the best justice that money can buy, the looters and their cohorts in the private sector get away with everything.

Potholes on a newly rehabilitated thoroughfare are just among the many consequences.