Contractor asks Ombudsman to suspend DepEd, BAC brass

CEBU, Philippines - The contractors who filed a complaints against top officials of the Department of Education and seven members of  DepEd-Cebu Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) urges the Office of the Visayas Ombudsman to suspend BAC members to avoid suspension of the results of the incoming bidding.

The three top regional officials of DepEd and seven members of DepEd-Cebu BAC are now facing a complaint before the Ombudsman over the alleged anomalous furniture projects costing P45 million.

JEC Lumber Corporation and Ramagal Door and Sash Manufacturing Corporation have filed separate complaints against top education officials and BAC members.

They alleged to have received reports that the DepEd-Cebu province is scheduled to conduct a bidding for school furniture for the 2008 budget. It can be recalled that last March 23, 2009, the DepEd-Cebu province conducted a bidding for the 2008 budget. But after the discovery of the alleged irregularities in the conduct of bidding for 2007 and also the alleged sub-standard school furniture delivered to the different public elementary and high schools in Cebu province.

“We heard reports that DepEd has scheduled a bidding for the school furniture amounting to P35 million, but the problems is the BAC members were the same persons subject of our complaints,” the contractors claimed.

They hope that aside from the anti-graft office, DepEd Cebu province will also look into the composition of the BAC.

The BAC members claimed that all school principals and teachers in-charge were given the copies of the specifications of the school furniture. But when The FREEMAN visited the different schools in northern Cebu they claimed to have received the copy only after the controversy broke out in this newspaper.

Two separate complaints are now filed before the Office of the Visayas Ombudsman against DepEd-7 director Recaredo Borgonia, Cebu Provincial Schools Division Superintendent Arden Monisit and former provincial schools division superintendent Serena Uy. — Jose P. Sollano/WAB   (FREEMAN NEWS)