vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 3 months, 4 weeks ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Cebu’s ‘overpriced’ lampposts

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | March 9, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Filed under: Governance, Image Galleries, In the News

Lampposts installed in Mandaue City have a dome top, 124 of which line the Ouano Wharf to UN Avenue.

Lampposts with a hat-like apex are commonly seen along the roads of the cities of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.

Another of those dome-topped lampposts in Mandaue reportedly purchased at P224,000 each.

A row of lampposts along the highway in Lapu-Lapu.

Lampposts of this design are installed along the center islands of the ASEAN summit's ceremonial routes.

Another type of lamppost found in Mandaue.

Hover the mouse cursor over a thumbnail to display image or click thumbnail to hold.

CEBU CITY — Big-ticket government projects are a sure magnet of corruption, as the PCIJ’s almost two decades of work in exposing anomalies and wrongdoing in the public sector has shown.

Think Centennial Exposition project, the PEA-Amari scam involving the sale of government land, and the award of costly power contracts to favored independent power producers, all of which were brokered during the time of the Ramos administration.

Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, there was the hasty approval of the $470-million contract to rehabilitate a hydroelectric power plant to the Argentine firm IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima). Other corruption-tainted projects under Arroyo’s watch include the construction of the 5.1 kilometer highway named after her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal; the mothballed Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport; and the North Rail rehabilitation project.

It comes as no surprise therefore that a project like the Cebu International Convention Center — recently built to serve as venue of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in January this year — is now at the center of controversy for allegations of overpricing in the procurement of some 1,800 decorative lampposts installed along the ceremonial routes used by summit delegates in the three Metro Cebu cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.

The said lampposts, pictures of which you can see in the image gallery, reportedly cost P224,000 each in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu. The regular price of each post is only P83,000, according to Marlina Alviso, the Department of Public Works and Highways assistant director for Central Visayas who prepared the program of works for Cebu City. This, she said, already covers all the materials, power, and cost of labor for their installation.

Interviewed by Sun.Star, a Cebu businessman, Crisologo Saavedra, even said that he wrote to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña offering him to supply the city government with the same lampposts for only P31,000 each to illustrate how “blatant” the overpricing was.

The amount, he said in his letter already covers the acquisition cost of only P11,000 (from a supplier in China), transportation from Manila to Cebu, handling and trucking, civil works, installation, cost of money, incidental expenses, with a 30-percent profit to boot.

The overpricing issue has spawned denials, accusations and buck-passing among local government and DPWH officials. Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu city officials admitted they prepared the program of works and estimates but claimed they set the amount only at P50,000, insinuating that it was the DPWH which padded the costs.

The Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas is now investigating the matter.

Overpricing is the most common form of procurement fraud. In her book that serves as a guide to investigating common procurement fraud and irregularities, Heidi Mendoza, former auditor of the Commission on Audit, says that there is a high rate of overpricing involved in uncommon or highly technical items like hospital equipment. But the situation is equally alarming in common items. In one Metro Manila school she audited, a Mongol pencil, for instance, cost P90 while a marble used in science laboratory cost P50.

Mendoza also says that what is intriguing is that overpricing is not hidden. On the contrary, it is widely practiced. She cites the case of a mayor who even casually told an auditor that it should not be considered as overpricing if the price difference falls within the range of 50 to 100 percent. And as purchases of government do show, the cost of items purchased is usually four to five times the actual price.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 and is filed under Governance, Image Galleries, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 people have left comments

[...] I guess I was wrong. [...]

tropikalye » Blog Archive » Lampposts of Gold wrote on March 9, 2007 - 6:37 pm | Visit Link

I guess this isn’t new anymore under GMA administration. Who will benefit this over-pricing of lamp-post? Contrary to what GMA is doing in other agencies like health service & welfare, and yet her own projects can’t even look how much damaged it crafted in taxpayers’ money. I think it’s all same as the centennial expo, amari deal, macapagal boulevard, NAIA, the controversial fertilizer fund from jocjoc bolante and other big mesh-up projects, GMA and her cohorts just all siphoned these projects?

She can even suspend other local executives for corruption and yet her own cohorts can not. Who knows she may have another account in the name again of jose pedal. Enough Mrs. President, it’s too much now. You already stole the highest position of the land and yet you still continue grabbing all these things. For God’s sake please think also of the millions poor filipinos countryside who cannot even feed for themselves.

kim wrote on March 10, 2007 - 11:57 pm | Visit Link

[...] SOURCES: Sunstar Cebu Inquirer.net PCIJ [...]

ASEAN Lampposts - The Voice of The Filipino - Tingog.com wrote on March 25, 2007 - 4:57 am | Visit Link

The lampposts! I see them everyday. And every time I see those expensive (read as: over-priced), I feel the shame. It hurts me too. And I asked, what happened? Until now, no one has been prosecuted but many of us suffer.

batang buotan wrote on March 25, 2008 - 12:10 pm | Visit Link

Not only the lampost ,CICC are at mess! Even the new traffic lights they installed, most of which are not working well. The road improvements too now are beginning to deteriorate! Hope these can be checked too.

carlnick wrote on March 26, 2008 - 2:25 pm | Visit Link