Catholics raise concern

A friend of mine recently stumbled upon an online news item from Cathnews Philippines, a Catholic online news service. The story last March 12 was about the assassination of the purported killer of Italian priest Fausto Tentorio by communist rebels.

In the news, the New People’s Army (NPA) claimed responsibility for the killing of a Swiss-Filipino businessman Patrick Wineger, 48, whom it says was involved in the murder of the priest in Mindanao last year.

The NPA said they “punished” Wineger for his alleged close links with “fanatical and anti-NPA groups”

Cathnews also quoted NPA’s Rigoberto Sanchez as saying that several text messages found on Wineger’s mobile phone revealed he was in close contact with paramilitaries linked to Fr. Tentorio’s murder. Sanchez said the swift and timely punishment of one of the principals behind Father Tentorio’s killing stands as a fitting and just retribution amid the false justice dispensed by the US-Aquino regime.

Some people find it strange that those behind Cathnews did not condemn the vigilante-type of justice that the NPA dealt on Wineger, who was not afforded equal justice under the laws which even the Catholic Church is bound to uphold.

For all we know, Wineger could have been as guilty as hell. But wasn’t he entitled to  equal dispensation of justice? The tragedy reminded some sectors that the Catholic Church was likewise silent when Taganito Mining Corp. in Surigao Del Norte was attacked and torched to the ground by the NPA. The attack rendered the mines inoperable, rendering thousands jobless.

Friends say that what is equally appalling is, in that Cathnews item, a picture of NPA guerrillas with the rebels’ red flag prominently displayed, almost consumed one fourth of the page. Not only that.  It would seem that Cathnews has become a bulletin board of sorts for the NPAs various activities.

Here are some of the news items that this friend of mine read in Cathnews which he found disturbing: that the Communist Party of the Philippines is looking for young blood to bolster its armed struggle against the government;  that the CPP has dampened peace hopes, saying the chances of forging an agreement with an Aquino led government are “dim;” that religious and faith-based groups have urged the government to release consultants of the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) to pave way for the resumption of peace talks, among others.

Some people are now concerned that the Catholic Church through Cathnews is unwittingly becoming a mouthpiece for the communists.

Bfp suffers legal setback

The Quezon City Regional Trial has recently stopped the rebidding for the procurement of P242.8 million worth of fire fighting equipment by the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Judge Lita Tolentino Genilo of Branch 91 granted the petition of Juanito Tionloc, representative of Kolonwel Trading; In Seung Apparel Co. (In Seung); and joint venture of Kolonwel and In Seung Apparel for the issuance of a temporary restraining order on the holding of the rebidding of the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) of firefighters and on the  transfer of the said amount to the Department of Budget and Management.

The court then ordered the parties to submit their memoranda within 10 days from receipt of notice of the order after which the case will be submitted for resolution.

The case stemmed from the petition filed by Tionloc questioning what it called as the arbitrary acts of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo and Bureau of Fire Protection OIC Samuel Perez to declare a failure of bidding when an award of the contract had already been approved and signed by the former.

The joint venture of Kolonwel and Korean firm In Seung Apparel had participated in the bidding of the procurement of PPE comprising of firefighters helmets, coats, trousers, gloves and boots intended for the year 2010 for an approved budget contract of P242 million. Kolonwel/In Seung was the new supplier among the bidders which included old-timers Panpisco Technologies, Inc. and 911 Alarm Inc. In Seung is one of the biggest suppliers of PPE in Korea.

After a rigorous process, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) recommended that the contract  be awarded to the Kolonwel/In Seung joint venture for submitting the lowest bid of P150 million or a savings of more than P90 million.

The BFP head then approved the recommendation and submitted the same to Robredo for final approval.

Robredo signed the recommendation and returned the papers to the BFP for implementation.

But with the assumption of Perez as BFP head, he refused to implement Robredo’s order and instead declared a failure of bidding based on the complaints of losing bidders, Panpisco and 911 Alarm, and accusing Kolonwel of not submitting electronically filed business tax returns, quality tests of their supplies and English translations of their documents.

Tionloc said Perez gave undue advantage to the two losing bidders since he took cognizance of their complaints without them filing the required protests and the corresponding protest fee of one percent of the bidding amount as required by the Government Procurement Act.

Tionloc also pointed out that it is not Kolonwel that is required to submit electronically filed business tax returns but their JV which is a separate juridical entity, but the said requirement does not apply to the JV because being a new entity, it has no past transactions that could give rise to filing tax returns.

Perez, according to Tionloc, also misrepresented in his report that Kolonwel did not submit test results on the quality of their PPE and English translations of their documents. He said all the documents submitted by the JV were genuine and in fact the product quality and test results that was reported as falsified by Perez was in fact issued by the Korean Fire Institute and authenticated by no less than the Philippine Embassy/consulate in Korea.

With respect to alleged failure to submit English translations of their documents, Tionloc said the translations were submitted and were in fact certified correct by the Korean Embassy here.

The JV of Kolonwel/ In Seung had already filed graft charges against Perez before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Tionloc said they appealed the decision of Perez to Robredo but the same had not been acted upon by the latter. In the meantime, Robredo had been quoted as saying that a rebidding would be conducted on the PPE and the money allotted for the equipment wouldl be returned to the DBM.

“Perez made a mockery of the bidding process, defeating fair and open competition to the advantage of the preferred losing bidder/s which resulted in depriving the public better services which the equipment sought to be procured was intended to provide. The action of Perez set back the capability of BFP by two years,” he said.

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