^

Cebu News

Garcia's camp: Complaints are questionable, dismissable

Gregg Rubio - The Freeman

CEBU, Philippines -  The camp of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the cases filed against her and other Capitol officials over the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) are questionable and completely dismissable.

The Final Evaluation Report of the Ombudsman-Visayas was made the basis in the filing of criminal and administrative cases against Garcia and members of Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) before the Ombudsman-Manila.

A day before the filing of the cases, Garcia filed a motion asking for a copy of the “Memorandum dated Nov. 17, 2009” issued by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol.

She also asked for a hearing on the motion on December 21, 2012. But the cases were already filed on December 14, 2012.

Garcia also asked for clarification on whether the approval by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales pertains to the recommendations of the fact-finding panel to file cases against her or to Apostol's disapproval of the recommendations.

“Nganong di man gyud sila kahuwat, nganong excited man gyud kaayo silang mo-file ani nga mga cases and clearly violating their own rules,” said Christina Garcia Frasco, counsel for Garcia.

Frasco said that even if the cases were already filed, the complaints are “dismissable outright” for three reasons.

First, there was no Certificate of Non-Forum Shopping, a requirement under Administrative Order No. 17 in the Ombudsman Rules.

Second, Apostol reportedly admitted that the complaints were not accompanied with sworn allegations as the filing was not done under oath.

Frasco said that under Ombudsman Rules, if not sworn, the complaint is “dismissable outright.”

Third, the administrative complaint may not be filed and is “dismissable” if one year has already lapsed after the alleged violation.

The alleged violation of the law over the CICC construction was committed in 2006.

“Bisan nasayud si Ombudsman Apostol ani, ni file gihapon siya og case, so kwestiyonable kaayo ba, ngano man willing man kaayo sila mo-violate sa ilang own rules of procedures and they are so willing to deprive Governor Garcia of her right, the constitutional right to due process,” Frasco said.

Frasco pointed out that the filing of the cases gave the Ombudsman the authority to preventively suspend the governor.

“We see the underlying objective perhaps for the hasty filing of all these cases aron ma-accomplish lang gyud nila ang ilang goals seguro na ultimately ipa-suspend gyud si Gov. Gwen,” Frasco said.

Frasco warned that they will seek appropriate legal remedy against grave abuse of discretion by the anti-graft body.

Gov denies allegations

In a powerpoint presentation before the media yesterday, Gov. Garcia denied any wrongdoing, saying there was public bidding for the CICC construction.

Garcia showed the result of the bidding, which was participated by the WT Construction, Young Builders Construction, UKC Builders Corporation and Tokwing Construction.

The lowest bidder was WT Construction, which later on filed a case against the province after the Capitol did not pay its extra works amounting to P261.2 million for lack of contract.

The court then directed the provincial government to pay the WT Construction.

Garcia said the province paid lower amount than what WT Construction asked in court.

She said it was not true that WT Construction was not qualified to undertake the project. 

  On the issue of the contractor's qualification, the discussion in the Final Evaluation Report of the Ombudsman stated: “It can be gleaned from the records that WT Construction, Inc. bears a Triple A classification for General Engineering issued on July 1, 2005 and to expire on June 30, 2006. The Invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid was posted in  the Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 12 & 19, 2006. This would mean that during the posting of the said newspaper, WT Construction, Inc. was already classified as Triple A for General Engineering.”

The issue on limited source bidding was brought up when the complaint cited that the respondents violated the law since the procurement of supplies and installation of structural steel, metal cladding, structural cabling system, fire protection/automatic sprinkler system, powder-coated whit FD, steel fence/gates and air-conditioning units were done through limited bidding.

Republic Act 9184 defines Limited Source Bidding, otherwise known as Selective Bidding, as a method of “procurement that involves direct invitation to bid by the Procuring Entity from a set of pre-selected suppliers or consultants with known experience and proven capability relative to the requirements of a particular contract.”

Garcia explained that on specialized items, not all general contractors have the expertise to implement specialized items like airconditioning, plumbing, sprinkler systems, CCTV cameras, and others.

Apostol was earlier quoted as saying: “It is my humble view that the finding of the members of the fact-finding panel that limited source bidding is applicable only to procurement of goods, although possibly correct, suffers inaccuracies for being obviously based on interpretation of law and not mainly based on facts gathered by them during the fact-finding investigation.”

As basis, he cited the examination of the Commission on Audit, which found no irregularity in the project.

Apostol added that he found no evidence of overpricing.

Yesterday, Apostol reiterated that it was Morales who approved the recommendation of the investigating panel to file cases against Garcia and others. 

“If I was to ask, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales approved the recommendation of the investigators not mine.”

In its evaluation report, the fact-finding panel recommended  the filing of two counts of anti-graft case and misconduct/neglect of duty against Garcia and other officials.

Aside from Garcia, other respondents were BAC chairman Eduardo Habin, BAC vice chairman Mariano Martinquilla, BAC member Roy Salubre, Budget Officer Emmy Hingoyon, BAC members Ernesto Biernes and Euly Pilayre. —LPM (FREEMAN)

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO

APOSTOL

CASES

CONSTRUCTION

GARCIA

GENERAL ENGINEERING

OMBUDSMAN

OMBUDSMAN RULES

TRIPLE A

  • Latest
Latest
Latest
abtest
Recommended
Are you sure you want to log out?
X
Login

Philstar.com is one of the most vibrant, opinionated, discerning communities of readers on cyberspace. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. Sign up now!

Get Updated:

Signup for the News Round now

FORGOT PASSWORD?
SIGN IN
or sign in with