Contractors: Abolish lawmakers' powers over infra projects

Believe it or not, not all contractors are corrupt, just as not all district engineers are unscrupulous, audacious and greedy.

- IRIS GONZALES

There are decent players, many of whom opt not to bid for government projects such as flood-control structures, etc.

I recently sat down with some of them and topping their wish list is to remove from lawmakers the power to identify the projects they want funded in their districts. Consequently, they also want Congress' power over budget insertions to be clipped as well.

"Imagine, the budget for 2026, they (lawmakers) will do budget insertions now. The projects will be implemented in January with no design — no detailed engineering, no planning," a contractor said.

All these point to congressional insertions in the national budget, which in the simplest terms just mean altering the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the Executive for 2026.

For the contractors I spoke to — let's call them the good guys because they said they really want their industry to adhere to the highest standards of workmanship and good governance — the best solution is to stop congressional insertions and leave it to the departments to identify the projects.

This is really where corruption starts, they said.

While this may create a new layer of corruption, it will likely be less severe than what is happening now with lawmakers' blanket powers to siphon funds through congressional insertions.

This is what Sen. Ping Lacson also proposed. He said Congress should just adopt the NEP submitted by the Executive for 2026. The Executive has proposed a P6.793-trillion budget for 2026.

If Congress goes along with the proposal, it will be the first time that lawmakers will not insert amendments to finance their pet projects in the annual outlay.