CEBU, Philippines - The opposition leaders in Cebu City yesterday said that they have uncovered an irregular transaction involving the purchase of “overpriced” basketball boards that were distributed in the different barangays of the city’s North District.
Businessman Jonathan Guardo and Lahug barangay captain Mary Ann De los Santos believe that aside from the basketball boards, the purchase of lighted panaflex signboards that were installed by North District Rep. Raul del Mar in the barangay halls were also allegedly overpriced.
De Los Santos, who plans to run for congressman of the city’s North District, is scheduled to proceed to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas today to turn over the documents that she had received from an unknown sender in order to formally ask the anti-graft body to investigate the transaction.
She strongly believes that the P11,194 cost for each basketball board is overpriced by almost P9,000 while the P14,993 for each of the lighted panaflex signboard is also overpriced by thousands of pesos.
Although the funds came from Del Mar’s Priority Development Assistance Fund, but the implementor of the project, who purchased the basketball boards with goals and the lighted panaflex signboards, is the Cebu City district engineering office under Nicomedes Leonor.
Del Mar who was in Manila yesterday, called up Leonor and ordered him to investigate the alleged overpricing.
Guardo, who is also giving basketball boards to the barangays in the South District, claimed that each basketball boards is only worth P1,500 to P2,000, while De Los Santos said the basketball boards that she had installed in Lahug worth P2,000 to P2,500 each.
The records that De Los Santos presented to the media during the press conference yesterday showed that the bidding for the 78 pieces of basketball boards and 38 pieces of lighted panaflex signboards was awarded to Josan Construction Supplies & Services, reportedly located in Sta. Lucia, Consolacion.
The FREEMAN contacted, in several times, the supplier of the basketball boards and signages, but nobody answered their phones.
The basketball boards and signages, with markings “Serbisyo Del Mar,” were purchased in the amount of P1,442,866 intended for the improvement of the various multi-purpose buildings in the 37 barangays of the North District.
These are for barangays Agsungot, Adlaon, Apas, Bacayan, Banilad, Binaliw, Budlaan, Busay, Cambinocot, Carreta, Camputhaw, Capitol Site, Cogon-Ramos, Day-as, Ermita, Hipodromo, Guba, Kasambagan, Lahug, Lusaran, Luz, Pulangbato, Sambag 1, Sambag II, San Jose, San Roque, Talamban, Sirao, Tejero and T. Padilla.
Tinago barangay councilman Joel Garganera said one of his friends, who owns a printing shop in Cebu City, told him that he was the one who worked the lighted panaflex signage and he was only paid P4,000 each, not P14,993.
When The FREEMAN asked Garganera how it happened that his friend was the one who did the project, but the receipt showed that it was the Josan Construction, who supplied the materials.
“Tingali ang nagtrabaho sa mga signages mao ang akong amigo, apan ang miisyu sa resibo mao ang nakadaug sa bidding,” Garganera said.
For her part, De Los Santos said “Ang mga namirma sa dukomento manubag g’yod niining overpricing sa pagpamalit og basketball boards ug mga signages.”
Del Mar contacted The FREEMAN from Manila explaining that he has no participation in the conduct of biddings to award the project because such work is the task of the project implementor.
He made an example that in the case of the purchase of buses that were distributed to the barangays of the North District, it is the Cebu City government that implemented the project, although the funds come from him.
He said, if it is true that the purchase of the basketball boards and signages were overpriced, he wanted that the persons responsible on it would be prosecuted and the full force of the law will be implemented.
Meanwhile, Guardo and De Los Santos suspect that there is also a possibility that the purchase of basketball boards of the Cebu City government in line with its MY City sports program may also be overpriced by some unscrupulous persons.
But Acting Mayor Michael Rama quickly rejected the suspicions of the opposition leaders because Rama said the members of the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan have their own advocacy, which is against corruption. —/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)