MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. pledged to put an end to corruption in public works projects, stressing that anomalies in infrastructure not only result in substandard outputs but also cause economic losses that affect Filipinos directly.

“If there’s one thing, I will not leave this office until I fix this,” Marcos said during his inspection of failed multi-million peso rock shed and rock netting projects along Kennon Road in Barangay Camp 4, Tuba, Benguet.

The President said repairing the PhP264-million rock shed project has already led to a 35 percent loss in the local economy, while the government may spend at least PhP500 million for repairs.

To curb corruption, Marcos ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to restore the standard operating procedure (SOP) requiring local government units (LGUs) to formally accept projects before they are declared complete.

“Tinanggal ‘yung SOP na ‘yun. The SOP is that before you release the project to the local government, kailangan tanggapin ng local government. And that’s something that we will reinstitute. Iyon ang ibabalik natin,” Marcos said.

The President also raised concerns over a rock netting project in Purok Maramal, Sitio Camp 5, which was intended to protect motorists from landslides. He noted that rock netting projects were previously banned due to corruption but were still implemented.

“Because napaka-notorious ng rock netting sa korupsyon, ipinagbawal na ang rock netting. Pero ginawa pa rin. Ipinagbawal na ‘yan eh pero ginawa nang ginawa pa rin,” he said.

Citing supplier data, Marcos said the wire mesh used for the project was priced at PhP3,200 each, but was billed to the government at PhP12,000. “So, times four, times four. So, 75 percent ng kontrata kinickback (kickback),” he added.

The rock netting project, covering 3,479 square meters of slope with high tensile wire mesh and a green mat for erosion control, had a contract price of PhP114.177 million and was awarded to 3K Rock Engineering—the same contractor behind the rock shed project. Parts of the mesh were observed to be damaged or not in good condition.

“Those are the things we have to correct. Over the years, these abuses only came about kasi pinalitan ang sistema and dinadaya talaga,” Marcos said.