THE Balog-Balog Dam and irrigation project in Tarlac has not been completed, more than five decades after it was broached by the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. as the best way to make the province the food basket of Central Luzon.
This, despite the fact that a brother-in-law of the late senator, Antolin “Len” Oreta, husband of former Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta, won the simplified bidding for the construction of the north main canal of the project in 2000 with the approved agency estimate at P701 million.
The businessman also happened to be the presidential adviser on economic zones when the bidding was conducted on November 15, 1999, barely four days after the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) under Manuel Arevalo told construction companies the project was still under negotiation with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) under the special yen-loan package financing portfolio.
Strangely, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada poured in an additional P1 billion for the project on July 29, 1999, exactly one month after Arevalo requested additional money.
Awarding the project for the construction of the north dam canal was rushed, detractors said, since there was actually no need to a “simplified” bidding that could wrap up the award within 60 days, compared to the 300 days it takes for any contractor to be named winner.
Arevalo and other Palace officials, like Assistant Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), now the governor of Cavite, justified the “simplified” bidding by arguing the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma) allows it, making it legal and above board.
However, the dam itself had not been built, detractors argued, and constructing the north dam canal could wait.
Such an award was also deemed improper by other players in the construction industry since Len Oreta, who headed the winning company, AM Oreta Co. Inc., was with the government as presidential adviser on economic zones.
The award raised ethical issues, along with allegations the Estrada administration rushed the simplified bidding despite calls from other companies to defer the bidding while the project was being reviewed and the engineering and design issues analyzed thoroughly.
Worse, critics insisted that undue haste and utmost secrecy attended the simplified bidding process initiated by NIA. <
Moreover, the NIA actually bloated the AAE for the project from the P435 million in September 1999 to P701 million, when the tenders were made two months later.
It meant that in less than 60 days, NIA found it necessary to raise the AAE by P266 million, or a whopping 60.4 percent, without any explanation.
Aside from this, the NIA did not give any leeway for other companies to join the bid, with the agency eventually asking the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) a list of possible bidders out of the 304 accredited members of the PCA.
In the end, the NIA had to reduce the number of potential bidders to only five, with A. M. Oreta Co. Inc.; R. D. Policarpio & Co. Inc.; D. M. Wenceslao & Associates, Domson (Manila) Inc.; and Basic Construction joining .
M. Oreta Co. Inc. won the bidding war with a bid of P701,215,734.30, beating Dimson (Manila) Inc. with P839,984,508.80; DM Wenceslao and Associates with P839,210,733.83; and RD Policarpio & Co. Inc. with P832,990,675.88.
The last bidder, Basic Construction, was disqualified since its license was not current.
Aside from this controversy, which erupted nearly 16 years ago, analysts from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), the in-house think tank of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), warned that design problems and the adequacy of sustained water supply for the Balog-Balog Dam poses serious challenges to the viability and efficiency of the project for irrigation services, as well as other uses.
In their study “Appraisal of methodology in estimating irrigable areas and processes of evaluating feasibility of irrigation projects” that appeared on PIDS Policy Notes, November 2014-13, Guillermo Q. Tabios III and Dr. Cristina David of PIDS said the cost of the Balog-Balog Dam itself at P8 billion for a height of 105 meters and a crest length of 1.4 kilometers is “underestimated.
Controversy hounds Balog-Balog Dam project in Tarlac
