Firms with questionable capacity bagged thousands of DPWH contracts – COA report

In terms of total contract value, Mimaropa topped the list with P65.708 billion in projects awarded to bidders with questionable net financial contracting capacity computations The DPWH awarded 11,391 projects worth P459.262 billion for 2024 and 2025, but COA found issues with bidders' financial disclosures. Bidders submitted incomplete statements, leading to inaccurate net financial contracting capacity computations, which assess their financial capacity for projects. The Ilocos Region had the highest number of contracts with deficient disclosures but Mimaropa had the highest total contract value awarded to questionable bidders. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) awarded 11,391 projects worth a combined P459.262 billion to contractors across the country in 2024 and 2025. In a report released on Friday, October 30, the Commission on Audit (COA) found that bidders for these projects submitted incomplete statements of their ongoing government and private contracts. This made the computation of their net financial contracting capacity inaccurate. The NFCC is used to determine whether a contractor has the financial capacity to take on a project and qualify for bidding. COA also found that NFCC computations were not updated in subsequent bids and that contractors failed to disclose projects they had undertaken with other government agencies, local government units, government-owned or controlled corporations, and private entities. In response to the COA findings, DPWH officials pointed to the Bids and Awards Committee Technical Working Group, which relied heavily on eligibility results generated by the DPWH Civil Works Application. This system only contained records of contracts awarded by the DPWH. DPWH acknowledged the “absence of a systematic or independent mechanism for cross-checking contractors’ declared commitments against their actual ongoing government projects.” DPWH cited time constraints, the volume of procurement transactions, limited data availability, and manpower shortages as challenges to independently verifying bidders’ submissions during post-qualification. Where did this happen? The Ilocos Region, the bailiwick of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., recorded the highest number of contracts awarded to bidders with deficient disclosures, at 1,893. It was followed by Northern Mindanao with 1,328 contracts, Calabarzon with 1,289, Cagayan Valley with 1,213, and Central Luzon with 1,134. In terms of total contract value, however, Mimaropa topped the list with P65.708 billion in projects awarded to bidders with questionable NFCC computations. It was followed by Northern Mindanao with P63.559 billion, Ilocos Region with P45.76 billion, Cagayan Valley with P43.553 billion, and Calabarzon with P41.655 billion. The Senate blue ribbon committee’s first hearing on anomalous flood control projects in August 2025 revealed that five of the 15 flood control contractors identified by Marcos in his State of the Nation Address lacked the financial capacity to qualify for the projects they were awarded. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading