By Raymund Antonio
A letter complaint has been filed against a public works official before the Office of the President on alleged corrupt activities involving some projects in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
A private contractor wrote a two-page letter to President Duterte to complain about a project director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) assigned at the Project Management Office-Flood Control Management Cluster (UPMO-FCMC).
Marilou So, a resident of Tagum, Davao City, and contractor of Caanast Construction, specifically cited the construction of P39-billion worth of projects financed by official development assistance (ODA) in BARMM.
According to So, she met with the DPWH project director who told her that every contractors should be able to provide an “S.O.P.” of 10 percent.
She added that the official also designated them as agent of the project as he is the consignee of every flood control projects of DPWH.
The contractor added that they agreed and she handed over a partial payment for lock-in, amounting to P100 million on March 14, 2020 at his residence.
But despite the payment, So said he informed them that he already had contractors for the project and that they cannot join in the bidding.
She alleged that the official informed her that she cannot be given a copy of the terms of reference nor participate in the bidding “even after our firm has handed over the lock-in fee and our money not being refunded.”
So even stressed that she has enough evidence to prove her claim and expressed hope that her complaint will be given due consideration by the office of the President.