Good First Step, But Where’s the Hammer?

On the surface, the President’s new directive is a welcome dose of common sense. Requiring national agencies like the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to secure the approval of Local Government Units (LGUs) before implementing projects in their areas is a logical step toward better coordination and local ownership. It is a commendable move for the future.

But we must not allow this forward-looking procedural fix to distract from the colossal failure that prompted it: the PHP260 million flood control project in Benguet, which the President himself decried as “useless.” While we draft new rules for tomorrow, a deafening silence surrounds the question of accountability for yesterday. A new memo is not justice. This directive is a good first step, but it is not enough. Where is the hammer?

Let’s start with the most obvious target. The President publicly named the contractor, 3K Rock Engineering. This is no small thing. Yet, the crucial follow-up questions remain unanswered. Will this firm be immediately and permanently blacklisted from all future government contracts? Is the Solicitor General preparing a lawsuit to claw back every single centavo of the P260 million in taxpayer money that was spent on a failed project?

Without these actions, the President’s anger is just political theater. Other contractors will watch and learn a dangerous lesson: that in the Philippines, you can deliver a subpar, overpriced project, get called out by the highest office in the land, and the only consequence is a new layer of bureaucracy for the next contract. True deterrence isn’t a new memorandum circular; it’s the sight of a company being held financially and legally responsible for its failures. We are still waiting.

Even more critical is the question of accountability within the DPWH. A private contractor cannot act in a vacuum. A project that allegedly used a “banned” engineering technique and was approved with a staggering, near 400% markup did not just magically appear. It passed through multiple desks, was reviewed by engineers, and was signed off by officials who are paid to be the guardians of our national treasury.

Who are they? Which DPWH regional and national officers approved the plans, the budget, and the disbursements for this fiasco? Have they been suspended? Fired? Are their assets being investigated? Or are they sitting in the same chairs today, ready to implement the President’s new LGU-coordination directive?

This is the heart of the matter. Giving the same people a new process to follow is not reform; it’s an insult to the public’s intelligence. Without removing the officials who either failed in their duty or were complicit in this blatant misuse of funds, the new directive is merely a new process for the same people to potentially exploit. It’s a fresh coat of paint on a rotten structure. Real change requires cleaning house, and so far, we have seen no evidence of it. This new rule risks becoming an inadvertent way to shift future blame to LGUs or even making them take the place of the unscrupulous without first addressing the corruption and incompetence at the national level.

We applaud the principle of empowering local governments. But this new directive, born from scandal, feels incomplete and deeply unsatisfying. It addresses the “how” of future projects but completely ignores the “who” and “what” of a crime that has already been committed.

True reform demands consequences. Filipinos are owed more than a promise that things will be better next time. We are owed justice for the last time. Show us the blacklisted contractor. Show us the lawsuits to recover our money. And show us the public officials who are being fired and prosecuted. Until then, this is just another rule for an old, broken game.