UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
2nd Semester S.Y. 2019-2020

How to Eradicate or Minimize Corruption in the Construction Industry

Louis Alejo R. Casalme | Rikki Mae S. Pagkalinawan | Josemaria R. Peralta
Giorgio Armand M. Robel | Manolito M. Sales Jr. | John Adolph DV. Salinas

In the Philippines, it has become a general knowledge of every Filipino that the
construction industry is prone to corruption, especially involving government projects. This has
been left under the radar for years. Part of the reasons why corruption could easily be executed in
this sector, aside from political involvement, is because construction projects are complex and
never the same. Regardless of how long it has been present in the industry, this vicious practice
is what the law hopes to break. There are a series of strategies to help minimize, if not eradicate,
the corruption in the construction industry.

The primary step to this agenda is to know the law. Even in general, when the majority of
the people involved are ill-informed of the law governing them, other people use it to take
advantage of the others; thus, corruption occurs. If more individuals learn about certain policies
and their consequences, such as criminalization of bribery and embezzlement of funds, more
individuals are less likely to engage in doing so and are more likely to participate in denouncing
those who are involved in corruption. After all, corruption would not be as extensive as it is if
there were no enablers who allow these things to happen. In addition, governments should
tighten their legislation against corruption. 

Aside from laws and regulations, another important issue is the construction culture at
both corporate and industry levels. Regardless of how good the laws and regulations are, people
are root causes of any corruption; and therefore, people are the key to make sure the construction
operation is honest, ethical, healthy, and clean. It is suggested that the Philippine government
pays more attention to the development of a healthy construction culture. The government should
put more effort into promoting honest and healthy rights all the time, not only technically, but
also morally, ethically, and culturally. 

Moreover, the development of accountability is central to tackling corruption. In a recent

study by Sohail and Cavill (2008), it was hypothesized that greater accountability can be of
benefit in combating corruption in terms of making service providers explain and justify their
actions against commonly agreed standards of effectiveness to increase the probability of
detection and promote transparency in interactions between public and private sectors; creating
demand for better services by changing levels of tolerance for poor service; and creating
sanctions for those who were found to have behaved immorally or performed ineffectively. 

Furthermore, Zou (2006) believes that it is necessary to review the conduct of the
officials involved in the construction industry through regular and random checks. The regular
checks include a detailed review of the entire procurement process on selected projects, while the
random checks include a review of several different projects chosen randomly. The random
nature of the process ensures that it cannot be anticipated and avoided by corrupt officials.
Through these regular and random checks, patterns of misconduct can be identified at one or
more specific stages during the construction process.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
2nd Semester S.Y. 2019-2020

REFERENCES

Sohail, M., & Cavill, S. (2008). Accountability to prevent corruption in construction projects.
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management © ASCE, 134(9), 729-738. doi:
10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2008)134:9(729)

Zou, P. X. (2006). Strategies for minimizing corruption in the construction industry in China.
Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 11(2), 15-29.