P.7-M spent for repair of just one DPWH car

A P700,000 bill for the year-long repair of a car is one of the irregularities which a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) panel is investigating.

The anomaly, involving a car with license plate PAK 404, was uncovered in the course of the six-month probe ordered by Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong.

Repair on another car, with license plate PGG 946, reportedly cost the DPWH another P500,000. The vehicle spent the entire 2001 going in and out of a contractor’s repair shop.

The investigation, led by Datumanong’s chief of staff Lorenzo Sulaik, also discovered that a contractor for vehicle repair won in 1,005 out of 1,006 biddings it participated in last year, documents acquired by The STAR showed.

This, as six other contractors posted a 100-percent "winning streak" in 13 biddings they each had joined.

Datumanong initiated the probe of irregularities in vehicle repair last Jan. 9.

Besides Sulaik, the investigating panel is composed of legal department head Oscar Abundo, vice-chairman; Bureau of Equipment director Abraham Divina Jr., accounting head Emily Tanquintic and internal audit director Irene Ofilada.