The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The government has begun the process of claiming performance bonds from insurance firms covering several questionable flood control projects in Bulacan, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced last week.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said the agency has formally written to three insurance companies—Liberty Insurance, Travelers Insurance, and Sterling Insurance—seeking payment for projects in the 1st District of Bulacan that were found to be anomalous.
“For the Bulacan case, we already wrote a letter to three insurance companies. The DPWH is claiming 30 percent for all those projects under the first case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman,” Dizon said during a press conference after signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Insurance Commission (IC) in Manila.
He added that more insurance claims are expected to follow, as every case referred to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) will be accompanied by a corresponding claim for the project’s performance bond.
“Every case we refer to ICI, we will immediately write to the insurance companies because it’s in the contract. Once we submit it to ICI, we also start the claiming process,” Dizon explained.
Reiterating President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive, Dizon vowed swift action to recover public funds lost to irregular infrastructure projects. “Let’s do everything we can to recover the people’s money, and let’s do it quickly,” he said.
The newly signed MOA between the DPWH and the IC seeks to strengthen monitoring, validation, and enforcement of surety bonds for infrastructure projects, ensuring accountability and transparency in government construction initiatives.