NV board stops mobile phone deal due to flak

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — Bowing to public pressure, the provincial board has withheld its purchase of cellular phones which a human rights lawyer has described as a display of "thoughtless extravagance."

Board member Patricio Dumlao Jr., the only one who opposed the acquisition, confirmed that his colleagues have indeed made the move after they received a lot of criticisms.

The board earlier had allotted P342,000 for cellphones for each of its 13 members. Based on the earmarked fund, each board member would have received a high-end mobile phone costing nearly P25,000.

Dumlao said the cellphones would have been bought in Manila this week but the board stopped the purchase at the last minute due to the barrage of criticisms.

"Do you think their poor constituents will benefit from it?" said human rights lawyer Ernesto Salunat, who earlier threatened to question the cellphone purchase before the local court.

Salunat said such "thoughtless extravagance" using the people’s money was tantamount to a criminal act.

Last year, Salunat also went to court when the provincial board approved the purchase of Pajeros for its members. The court eventually halted the plan.

Provincial administrator Virgilio Tiongson, who heads the provincial awards and bidding committee, himself advised the board to hold the cellphone purchase in abeyance since no public bidding was conducted.

"Any amount of procurement exceeding the ceiling (P250,000) should be conducted through public bidding," said Tiongson in a letter to the secretary of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.