Case vs MCIAA officials dismissed

CEBU, Philippines - Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol conditionally dismissed the case against three officials of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) for grave misconduct.

Lawyer Rogelio Yaun filed the case for grave misconduct against former MCIAA general manager Adelberto Yap, Chairman of Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Veronica Ordoñez and lawyer Sigfredo Dublin.

Yaun said on May 5, 2005, the airport operations department of MCIAA through its manager Romeo Bersonda issued a requisition and voucher for the purchase of one set UHF/FM Repeater System.

Yap approved the requisition budget of P100,000 and on May 9, 2005 five companies submitted their respective bids : MS Electronics Center for P92,000; MEGEN Corporation for P105,000; DIACOMM Enterprises for P110,000; ATD Electronics for P185,000 and PEECI Compuserve and Telecom for P190,000.

 Ordoñez then issued a notice of award to MS Electronics Center as it was the lowest bidder. The purchase order was issued by the Office of the Procurement Division and Accounting Division and forwarded to Yap for approval.

 However, Yap ordered for re-canvassing, where Yaun said an irregularity happened.

 Yap, in his counter-affidavit, stated the re-canvass was issued solely out of preference for a Kenwood repeater system since their office has been using Kenwood portable radio.

 Yaun, however, supported his allegation with quotations from MEGEN Corporation and DIACOMM Enterprises for the same Kenwood product which showed prices way below the amount paid by the MCIAA.

But graft investigator Jane Aguilar said Yaun failed to show that the quotation price were already available for the BAC. She also said Yaun presented the quotation price after the purchase has been made.

 Aguilar then ruled Yaun did not show proof that there was any irregularity the bidding and failed to show convincing evidence that the purchase was grossly disadvantageous to the government.

 Deputy Ombudsman Apostol, who was tasked to go over the records before deciding whether to approve or disapprove, found an indication of possible irregularity in the transaction and recommended the case for fact-finding investigation.

 Apostol recommended the temporary dismissal of the case and downgraded the case for a fact-finding investigation.

 “The big disparity of the price for the same equipment, except the brand name, needs further scrutiny. I believe present canvass of the same brand of equipment in the fact-finding should be done for comparison purposes to determine the propriety of the price,” Apostol said. — (FREEMAN)