OECD warns corruption imperils PH infra program

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has flagged corruption as a major risk to Philippine infrastructure delivery, warning that the multibillion-peso flood-control corruption scandal show that current accountability safeguards remain insufficient to prevent the misuse of public funds.

- By BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

In its report titled ‘‘Accelerating Sustainable Infrastructure Investments: Assessing Policies for Planning, Delivery and Financing in Central and Southeast Asia’’ published on Friday, June 12, the Paris-based OECD said procurement weaknesses continue to undermine infrastructure development in the Philippines despite existing legal frameworks and reform initiatives.

‘‘Corruption remains a major risk in infrastructure delivery’’ in the country, OECD said, citing persistent procurement vulnerabilities despite measures such as the Integrity Initiative and online blacklisting.

OECD said anti-corruption clauses should be embedded in public procurement and public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, while transparency mechanisms should be expanded to strengthen oversight over infrastructure projects.

It said recent high-profile scandals involving infrastructure rollout, particularly flood-control projects, showed that existing accountability mechanisms were not enough to prevent the improper use of public funds.