A May 16, 2011 press release by the Department of Budget and Management
Secretary Abad: Good governance could result in P6-7b more public works savings
The Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) pursuit of “the right project at the right cost with the right quality” have resulted in P1.1 billion savings from July 2010 to March 2011 and will mean thicker, longer and quality national roads.
Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad also said that on top of this, the completion of the rehabilitation and paving of all primary national roads will be advanced by at least a year to 2014.
He also said that through open, competitive and transparent bidding of public works projects, goods and consultancy services, savings are expected to grow to about P6 to 7 billion by year-end through the reduction of project costs; at the same time, the quality of these public works projects will be improved.
“Good governance, for one, will increase the thickness of roads from 8 inches to 11: a ‘concrete’ benefit to our people. This is a good example of an agency that is committed to fulfilling the Social Contract of President Benigno S. Aquino III,” he said.
“From an agency that used to be burdened by an image of being corrupt, we now see DPWH paving straight paths towards good governance and prosperity,” he said, noting that the projected annual savings of DPWH will help fast-track public works projects.
In a technical budget hearing conducted by DBM, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson told Abad that of the total 15,872 kilometers (km) of national arterial roads, about 94 percent will be paved this year and will be 100 percent paved by 2014. Meanwhile, 11,052 km of 15,370 km of national secondary roads will be paved by 2012; and 14,181 km will be completed by 2016.
On national bridges—the total bridge length of which is 330,089 lineal meters (lm)—10,600 lm are due for construction, 104,293 lm are due for repair or rehabilitation and 8,544 lm of temporary bridges will be made permanent. By 2016, all 7,793 national bridges will have completed repair, reconstruction or replacement.
Singson also told Abad that another reform that DPWH pursued is transparency in procurement, where bidding documents are now downloadable in the DPWH website and the Philippine Government E-Procurement System (PhilGEPS) portal. The department has also simplified its bidding requirements from more than 20 documents down to five. It has likewise engaged civil society organizations (CSOs) in its budget process system where it accredited 42 CSOs, while 33 are still being evaluated.
dbm.gov.ph
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