Ruffy Magbanua
ONE noticeable fact during the series of earthquakes that hit Mindanao during the Holy Week, particularly in areas identified within or near the fault line, was the “corrupt workmanship ” of public facilities like roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.
Posted on Facebook were images of cracked walls of municipal and school buildings, public markets, and provincial and national roads that were sliced like cakes down to its knees.
These substandard public facilities were no match to the earthquake’s mighty force, and the aftershocks that followed thereafter done on a staccato fashion.
No less than the DPWH admitted that infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and buildings were defective due to the use of inferior or substandard materials or poor workmanship.
There’s a saying among engineers: “There are two kinds of concrete–there’s cracked concrete and concrete that hasn’t cracked yet.”
Concrete cracks are not a cause for concern unless you can see it moving over time or it seems to be excessive. One important thing that structural engineers are trying to avoid is sudden, catastrophic failure.
Such case applies to the stupid Opol elevated bridge still under construction. It’s concrete pile cracked, gave way, and created a monstrous traffic jam that lasted not days, but weeks. Catastrophic indeed!
Concrete structures like that of the Opol bridge reportedly does not have adequate amount of rebar and therefore, it yielded a ductile behavior folding the concrete like deck of cards.
The cracked walls of the municipal building of Kalilangan, Bukidon is one classic example of redundancy because it was built allegedly with insufficient rebar, a basic requirement in building concrete edifice. Because of downsized support materials, the municipal building of that town was a disaster waiting to happen.
No wonder, this line applies to Kalilangan folks: when concrete appears without reinforced steel bars, you better run.
Looking from the outside, the Kalilangan municipal hall looks like it was sturdily built. However, to occupy that building right now is just a recipe for another disaster.
There is no debate on the findings therefore that an estimated 20 percent of the national budget is lost to corruption each year, particularly in infrastructure projects.
Corruption of this magnitude has had a crippling effect on the economy as well as the human rights of each and every Filipino taxpayers.
According to Transparency International, our country is ranked as the 41st most corrupt nation in the world. Subsequently, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. placed the Philippines as the 3rd most corrupt in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ultimately though, corruption usually has negative effects on an economy through the funding of money into bribes and overpricing of goods and services, which puts a financial strain on too many people for too long.
Such regressive practices and perpetual collusion between corrupt government personnel and contractors have widened the level of disparity between the rich and the poor.
The Crusade for Clean Government has been calling on the government to build safety nets on government projects, get rid of the “wages of corruption” and sustain maintenance of all infrastructure.
Together with a loose coalition of civil society organizations, the Crusade for Clean Government, this writer being one of the convenors, continues to support citizen initiatives that promote integrity, accountability and transparency in the execution of infrastructure projects, especially at the local level.
E-mail: ruffy44_ph2000@yahoo.com
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