NPO execs accuse blacklisted contractor of harassment

MANILA, Philippines - Top officials of the National Printing Office (NPO) accused a blacklisted contractor of harassing them by filing “baseless” cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.

NPO director Emmanuel Andaya and six other officials, all belonging to the agency’s bids and awards committee, said Guillermo Sylianteng Jr.’s allegations are mere malicious and vengeful imputations.

In their joint counter-affidavit, the NPO officials submitted documents to the anti-graft agency showing that the complainant is motivated by ill will.

The NPO officials alleged that Sylianteng only wanted revenge for the NPO’s blacklisting of his company Ready Forms Inc., which was suspended and later banned from participating in government printing projects after submitting “falsified, or so fictitious, documents of eligibility.”

“From that time on, complainant was committed to be vengeful by filing numerous cases with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ),” their counter-affidavit read.

Earlier, a group of active and former government employees sought President Aquino’s help to investigate blacklisted contractors who harass government employees and officials after losing a bid for a state project.

Malacanang later said that the DOJ will conduct its own investigation on the financial and other pertinent records of Sylianteng and other blacklisted contractors.

Sylianteng’s harassment suits also allegedly affected former NPO directors and employees, some of whom were dismissed or were forced to resign. Some employees and officials of other government offices where Sylianteng lost a bid also suffered the same fate.

Before he was blacklisted, Sylianteng allegedly cornered P289 million out of a total of P1.2 billion in contracts outsourced to printers from 2006 to 2008, the NPO officials said.