An infrastructure-oriented thinktank is calling on Ombudsman Samuel Martirez to exercise motu proprio powers to determine whether graft is present in the purchase by the Department of Information and Communications Technology of P170 million worth of gadgets from a construction firm.
“This transaction is not merely a whiff of corruption, but a god awful stench of corruption, clearly contradicting the commitment of President Rodrigo Duterte to stamp out corruption in his government. The Commission on Audit (CoA) report has damning evidence enough to warrant the preventive suspension of all involved DICT officials.”
This was the statement of Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convenor and former House ICT committee member.
Preventive suspension
RIdon said the CoA annual audit found that the DICT purchased 1,000 laptops, 26,500 tablets, and 1,001 pocket wifi dongles from a firm which the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said was engaged in “general construction.”
“Worse, it cornered a contract worth more than four times its December 2019 assets at P44 million, even if it did not have the expertise nor experience to provide IT supplies. This alone warrants the immediate preventive suspension of all involved DICT officials.
Emergency not an excuse
Ridon, who previously chaired the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, said these actions are strictly prohibited in various procurement laws and regulations.
“Procurement rules are not suspended despite the existence of an emergency, even during a global pandemic. This means the rules on contractor track record, such as evidence of one’s single largest completed contract continue to subsist. The DICT should show whether its contractor had already been able to deliver an IT supply project costing at least fifty percent of the P170 million project cost. If not, naku, may kulong yan, mga kaibigan. (If not, there will be jail time for that, my friends.)”
RIdon said the Ombudsman had already prosecuted past cases in which it found that no emergency situation necessitated relaxing procurement rules.
“The case on the MRT-3 maintenance contract is a reminder that government officials cannot casually use emergency situations as a reason to skirt procurement rules and favor friendly contractors. These cases are now in the Sandiganbayan. The DICT should show in this case how urgent or life-saving the rapid procurement of gadgets in order to justify the flouting of procurement laws.”
Undue favor
Ridon, a lawyer, said all of these facts point to violations of the R.A. No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“All told, all of these things show that DICT officials knowingly awarded the IT supply contract to its contractor even if it is not qualified nor legally entitled to be awarded such contract. Actual delivery nor fair prices are no excuses for granting such award in the first place. Be warned: may kalalagyan po tayo diyan pag hindi naipaliwanag nang tama ito.”