THE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has proposed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) a science and technology-based concept and system that will fight and prevent corruption in infrastructure programs.
This, as the country reels from corruption issues brought about by billions of pesos worth of infrastructure projects that were uncovered as nonexistent or ghost projects.
“We actually submitted to DBM a concept of how to really use digital intelligence to monitor and evaluate infrastructure projects,” DOST Secretary Renato Solidum said during the September 25 press conference held at the opening of the Regional, Science ,Technology and Innovation Week 2025 in Abreeza Mall, Davao City.
The first step of the concept is that every infrastructure proposal must be subjected to evaluation and that the infrastructure plan must not be solely decided by a single group. The scientific community also could help in evaluating the proposal.
“All infrastructure should be part of an integrated master plan. We talk about climate change, we talk about excess water or no water. The best plan is what we call Integrated Water Resource Management,” Solidum said.
He added that if the problem is excess rain then the infrastructure would be water impounding structures like dams.
“And if we talk about ensuring that the water will stay in the pathway of the river then we need to forecast and decide the project, what kind of flood are we protecting the people from? Is it the normal flood every five years or is it 15 years,” Solidum said.
He added that science is also needed to study the erosive capacity of the river as the body of water conveys not just water but also stones, boulders, and sand. “The erosive capacity is different from river to river,” the DOST secretary said.
The design of the flood control must include factors such as the projected discharge that you would be protecting the community from.
Employing digital models
After submission of the design and location, it would then be compared to the digital terrain model all over the country.
“In Mindanao we funded the Geomapper Mindanao with all the LiDAR ( Light Detection and Ranging) ginamit natin mga universities sa Mindanao to look that up and these are available,” Solidum said.
By using digital print of towns they can simulate the effect of infrastructure development such as roads, dikes, and residential subdivisions, on the potential flood scenario.
Technology will also be used in monitoring the project using satellite technology, drones and citizen reporting utilizing digital application.
“If we can have an application where we can use the details of the project in the app then anyone can compare and contrast,” Solidum said.
The country’s science chief says that the digital application equipped with GIS (Global Information System) will promote transparency, preventing or at least limit corruption in infrastructure projects.
He said they have already tried the concept in 2018 and 2019.
“DOST funded a project at that time, now operated by DBM. We monitored the National Greening Program and the National Irrigation Infrastructure Program,” Solidum said.
He said the science-based approach to fighting and lessening corruption in infrastructure projects is not a difficult thing to do. The DOST secretary bared that the DBM is interested in the concept.
“Nakipagpulong na sa akin ang DBM (the DBM met with me) and they are interested in what we are doing,” Solidum said. PIA DAVAO