ILOILO – A former municipal councilor and administrator of Alimodian is questioning the town’s multi-million loan to procure heavy equipment in this time of pandemic.
According to Atty. Salvador Altura Jr., for the local government to spend that much at this time is uncalled for.
The Sangguniang Bayan’s (SB) approval of the loan was a haphazard decision that disregarded the urgent and real needs of the populace, he added.
In the first place, the town had no major infrastructure program to justify buying heavy equipment, he pointed out.
“I am writing as an Alimodianon concerned with (the plan of) the local government of Alimodian (to buy) eight units of heavy equipment,” read part of Altura’s letter addressed to the Municipal Bid and Awards Committee and copy furnished the SB of Alimodian and the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
According to Altura, bidding was conducted on April 19, 2021 for three dump trucks, a bulldozer, a motorized grader, a crawler excavator, a double drum vibrator roller, and a wheel loader.
The approved budget for contract (ABC) was P47,710,000.
The local government secured a loan with the Development Bank of the Philippines amounting to P44,609,000.
The SB was asked for an additional P3,101,000 through a supplemental appropriation.
Altura also questioned the bidding process. He noted that the new cost estimate submitted to the SB was based on a cost estimate sourced from supplier Civic Merchandising, Inc.
Come bidding time, Civic Merchandising Inc. also submitted a bid of P47,676,000, according to Altura.
Another bidder, Merge Market, Inc., submitted a much lower quotation of only P41,800,000. It won.
The post-qualification process is now ongoing.
Altura further claimed the eligibility requirements for bidders had three versions, and wondered why. He did not discount the possibility of him filing charges for graft and violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act before the Ombudsman.
ALONSABE REBUTS
Mayor Geefre “Kalay” Alonsabe denied the alleged irregularities and pointed out that the bidding process was not yet completed.
“Wala pa gani naluto nagkadto timu sa media kag gindusingan mo timu banwa ka Alimodian. Ngaa na-award na haw? Wala pa man. Tanan nga documents ara sa SB for the sake of transparency. Wala ‘ni sang ginaluto-luto ni Kalay. Kag sin-o ako para magluto-luto sina? May BAC kita kag with the guidance of (municipal consultant) Atty. Noel Palomado,” said Alonsabe over radio station DYRI RMN Iloilo.
Palomado is the current municipal consultant.
In fact, the town mayor stressed, the planned procurement was bid out in 2018 and failed thrice “tungod indi magbatu ang mga suppliers sa kantidad nga P33 million sang 2018.”
Under the law, after successive failed biddings, local governments may resort to a negotiated bidding.
But in this planned procurement, Alonsabe said, he rejected a negotiated bidding considering the big amount involved, thus this new bidding again.
Alonsabe further stressed that the project underwent several consultations and gathering of data, among others, and that it was the barangay captains who suggested that the municipal government buy heavy equipment for the efficient maintenance of Alimodian’s roads.
He believed this issue “dala sang pulitika.”
“Bal–an sang mga tawo sa Alimodian nga handom nila gub-on ako. But you cannot put a good man down,” Alonsabe stressed./PN
