CH uniform body bound to miss deadline

CEBU, Philippines - The uniform committee created by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to take charge of the procurement of uniforms of the 5,000 city hall employees is unlikely to meet the July deadline set by the mayor.

Human Resource and Development Officer Veronica Morelos, member of the committee, said that they have not convened yet because some of the members cannot find time for the meeting.

The two member councilors are on a trip abroad while the other members are busy in their offices.

She said there are still a lot to do which include among others the creation of the design. 

Morelos said they have to start from scratch because the previous supplier which they earlier planned to commission might not allow the city to adopt their design.

“But if they will allow us to adopt their design, mas maayo. But I don’t think they would,” she said.

The previous supplier which is based in Manila earlier expressed their disappointment to the city government for canceling the P18-million contract while they have already spent close to P100,000 during the demonstration.

The city cancelled its plan to commission the supplier because some questioned why the city selected a Manila based supplier when there are Cebu based suppliers available.

The transaction was also questioned because there was no bidding.

Morelos said that even if they can produce the design and be able to find a supplier this month, it would still take at least three months before the uniforms will be delivered.

She said it is expected due to the volume of uniforms that have to be produced.

The P18-million uniform purchase is supposedly for this year. It represents the P4,000 uniform allowance of each employee this year.

She said that there is also a possibility that they would go back to the old ways where they release the allowance to the employees and allow them to produce the uniform on their own. – (FREEMAN)