Yap made "dubious" airport transactions - probe

Ousted airport general manager Adelberto Yap entered into dubious airport transactions since June 2005 by using direct contracting and negotiated purchase schemes that resulted in overpricing of items by at least 80 percent than its original price.

This was the conclusion of the fact-finding committee created by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport board to look into alleged lapses committed by Yap in airport transactions.

The committee found out that Yap entered into illegal purchases made through the direct contracting with exclusive dealer scheme, using Section 50(c) of the implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Reform Act as its justification.

In addition, he made purchases in violation of Sec. 19 of the same law by express reference to a brand name in the procurement of goods.

However, it was consequently discovered that suppliers awarded with the airport contracts were not the exclusive dealers.

These questionable deals include the purchase of a UHF/FM Repeater System worth P168,000 from MS Electronics Center during a re-canvassing on August 5, 2005.

The amount was far greater than the firm's original bid of P92,000 and the Bids and Awards Committee already specified a particular brand and model for the said transaction, which was Kenwood TKR 850, during the re-canvassing.

In the requisition and issue voucher (RIV) issued on May 25, 2005, it did not specify any brand or model and the amount of the item was pegged only at P100,000.

The same happened to other similar direct purchases for handheld radios with MS Electronics, and which subsequently ignored the existence of two other suppliers, the MEGEM Corporation and DIACOMM Enterprise.

The committee findings also revealed that Yap and his alleged cohorts in the Bids and Awards Committee made purchases through the negotiated procurement in case of imminent danger scheme.

Atty. Rory Jon Sepulveda, MCIAA board consultant and a member of the fact-finding committee, revealed that Yap made emergency purchases on the pretext of imminent danger since June 2005 by using Section 53(b) of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

This particular provision of the said law states that negotiated procurement shall be allowed "in case of imminent danger to life or property during a state of calamity, or when time is of the essence arising from natural or man-made calamities or other causes where immediate action is necessary to prevent damage to or loss of life or property, or to restore vital public services, infrastructure facilities and other public utilities."

Purchases made under this scheme covered the supply of labor, materials, tools, equipment, and supervision for the repair of damage fence at sewage treatment plant as reflected in RIV No. 04-575-05 dated April 1, 2005 and job order no. 04-021-05 dated April 15, 2005. The said contract was awarded to JTL Construction.

Yap entered into such deal despite the absence of calamity or other analogous cases giving rise to imminent danger to life or property.

Aside from the questionable nature of the said purchases and its blatant overpricing, Sepulveda said that upon close scrutiny of the purchase orders, they suspect that suppliers are bogus since many of them do not have specific addresses.

The committee also discovered that Yap submitted by fax to the Civil Service Commission a falsified copy of R.A. 6958, otherwise known as The Charter of the MCIAA, in connection with his motion for reconsideration on the CSC's denial of his temporary appointment for lack of a third level career service eligibility.

In the falsified copy of the MCIAA Charter, there was an insertion of a phrase, which says that the appointment of the airport's general manager is upon nomination of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. This phrase made him qualified for the post since President Arroyo nominated him to the MCIAA board, which appointed him to the general manager position.

The committee also found disbursements of P100,000 released to Yap, charged to his discretionary expenses, every time the MCIAA board had a meeting. These disbursements were reportedly without authority from the board and also had no proper justification. These disbursements were made on February 9 and 22, March 8 and March 22, all of this year.

Because of these disbursements, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is going to sue Yap for libel because Yap earlier said that his withdrawals of P100,000 from the airport's funds was upon the instruction of the governor. He said the funds were to be used for fuel allocation every time the governor used any of the MCIAA choppers for her official trips.

The governor reportedly blew her top when Yap broached the matter in one of the board's executive sessions because she had for several times in the past offered to pay for the fuel allocation but Yap allegedly declined because there were funds donated by well-meaning individuals to be used for fuel allocation in the governor's official trips.

Garcia said she would never become Yap's "unwitting ally" and would never want to take part into his shenanigans.

The MCIAA board has decided to terminate Yap's services for his apparent "defiance and arrogance" to answer the charges raised against him during the airport body's special session last July 31. - Cristina C. Birondo/QSB