Capitol acquires P227M equipment

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu provincial government has finally acquired new sets of heavy equipment worth P227 million after over a year of being stalled because of controversies.

The 27 light and heavy equipment – including three units of hydraulic excavator worth P9.9 million each, two motor grader (P14. 85 million each), two vibratory roller (P5. 8479 million each), forklift (P2. 75 million each), manlift (P12.599 million), two self-loader (P5.847 million), nine dump trucks (P4.661 million each), water truck (P6.301 million), and two boom trucks worth PP4.494 million each – were delivered yesterday.

The new equipment will be used for the repairs of provincial roads.

“This is by far the biggest purchase of the provincial government. Twenty-seven units of heavy equipment and light equipment, all previous administrations combined,” Davide said during the blessing of the newly-acquired heavy equipment at the provincial motorpool located at the Department of Agriculture compound.

Cebu province has 157 provincial roads, 12 of which are located in Carcar City.

“Eight hundred fifty-eight (858) kilometers ang length sa provincial roads. Some of these are still good, some need fixing and rehabilitating... You can't just imagine atong trabahoon niini," Davide said.

The governor said they will form five task forces composed of operators to manage the equipment, which will be distributed to different towns and cities in the province.

The new set of equipment will be distributed in the south, mid-south, north, mid-north, and in the islands of Bantayan and Camotes.

These will be an addition to the existing 47 old equipment of the Capitol. Based on the inventory, 31 of the old equipment are still serviceable while 16 are not. The Capitol’s last purchase of equipment was in 2011.

Davide urged the mayors to follow the guidelines in requesting for the use of the Capitol equipment. He said, all borrowers of the equipment will shoulder the cost of fuel.

“Daghan na ang nagpareserba nga mga lungsod so we will attend to that, duna pud guidelines nga gihimo ang PEO nga ako nga gi-approve, so palihog sunda ang guidelines," Davide said.

The Capitol started the acquisition process of the heavy equipment in 2016 but Davide declared a failure of bidding following allegations of overpricing.

The failure of bidding prompted the Capitol to ask the Land Bank of the Philippines to extend the P200 million loan for another period. The governor said he wanted the process to be transparent.

"We wanted really everything above board nga dili ta kadudahan, yet naa gihapon critics nato nga moingon nga we bought these nga overpriced. Pero ang problema lage, dunay barato pero wala man sad niapil sa bidding," Davide said.

The supplier of the 27 equipment was the joint venture of the ConEquip Philippines, Inc. and RDAK Transport Equipment, Inc. —/FPL (FREEMAN)