BLACKLIST FIRMS INVOLVED IN
ANOMALOUS GOVT. CONTRACTS ANGARA
Says move would boost drive vs. graft and corruption

The senator who sponsored the passage of a law prescribing stringent bidding requirements and procedures on government contracts today pushed for the immediate blacklisting of companies that violate anti-corruption laws and procurement rules to step up the drive against corruption involving transactions with the government.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other major agencies that bid out public works and supply contracts should adopt the bold and sweeping anti-corruption measures that foreign multilateral institutions have been implementing to combat corruption.

The Asian Development Bank last week blacklisted a total of 37 companies for violating the banks anti-corruption rules.

Angara also proposed the conduct of regular performance audits of government suppliers and contractors in agencies that bid out big-ticket projects and supply contracts as a deterrent against official corruption.

Angara said that the blacklist by government of firms found violating anti-corruption laws and rules would convey in the strongest terms possible governments determination to fight corruption. No ifs, no buts. The government should be tough toward those who steal government funds.

During the senate deliberations on the Government Procurement Act a few years ago, Angara revealed that the government has been losing an average of P22 billion due to anomalies in the awarding of government contracts, even as he pointed out that the World Bank also noted the loss of public funds due to graft corruption.

The Government Procurement Act, which Angara sponsored at the senate, essentially broadens the pool of contractors and suppliers that bid out for government contracts while limiting the opportunity for fraud such as the rigging of bids as well as allows little room for negotiated contracts.

The law also incorporates modern practices in information technology to make bidding and awards work transparent and easy to monitor. It essentially overhauled the obsolete law on bidding and awards for government contracts, which had no information technology component and was prone to manipulation and fraud.

Angara , a known anti-corruption advocate, is the most active Philippine legislator in the Ottawa-based Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) and has played a major role in promoting reforms that the body has been pushing for.