Ombudsman watch saves over P11.8M in irregular deals in Negros
Anti-graft and corrupt practices drive in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental resulted to at least P11.8 million in government ‘savings.’
Presented before top officials of the Office of the Ombudsman, the report highlighted the accomplishment of Bacolod’s Social Action Center (SAC). Maximimo Cordero, Project Coordinator of the SAC’s “Good Governance Desk” represented the group, as “Resident Ombudsman” in the area.
“We were officially invited to observe the public procurement activities (most especially on the Bid Opening dates) of ten (10) Procuring Entities, namely: Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA); Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC)-Talisay Main Campus; Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH); Department of Education (DEP-ED)-Bacolod City Schools Division; DPWH-1st Eng’g District, Talisay City; DPWH-Bacolod Lone Eng’g District; DPWH-4th Eng’g District, Bago City; National Irrigation Adminsitration-Bago River Irrigation System Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (NIA-BRIS-RIP), Bago City; NIA-Negros Occidental Irrigation Management Office (NIA-NOIMO), Bago City and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental,” Cordero reported.
“This engagement and involvement with the above named agencies and local government unit did not only generate awareness and faithful observance of the Procurement Law, rules and regulations but also strengthened the demand and call for transparency and accountability among the members of the Bids and Awards Committee(BAC), BAC Secretariat and the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Procuring Agency, but also resulted in a total savings of Eleven Million Eight Hundred Forty Nine Thousand Four Hundred Twenty Nine Pesos and 79/100 (P11,849,429.79) for all of these Agencies for the period hereto reported.”
Cordero’s report covered January to June 2009 period.
“The total Approved Budgets of the Contract (ABC) by each Procuring Entity were as follows: BACIWA-P12,448,125.00; CHMSC-Talisay Main Campus-P243,000.00; CLMMRH-P37,131,218.57; Dep-Ed-Bacolod City Schools Division-P16,012,006.00; DPWH-1st Eng’g District, Talisay City-P197,737,784.93; DPWH-Bacolod Lone Eng’g District-P162,343,326.88; DPWH-4th Eng’g District, Bago City-P163,370,005.00; NIA-BRIS-RIP, Bago City-P90,661,408.43; NIA-NOIMO, Bago City-P2,9092,430.75 and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental-P25,438,018.54,” he continued while adding that because of the anti-graft watch, over P11.8 million savings were realized.
“The Agency Savings of each Procuring Entity were as follows: BACIWA-P316,221.00; CHMSC-Talisay Main Campus-P700.00; CLMMRH-P6,941,528.82; Dep-Ed-Bacolod City Schools Division-P225,543.16; DPWH-1st Eng’g District, Talisay City-P918,557.99; DPWH-Bacolod Lone Eng’g District-P2,010,570.61; DPWH-4th Eng’g District, Bago City-P81,905.85; NIA-BRIS-RIP, Bago City-P90,591.27; NIA-NOIMO, Bago City-P12,190.25; Provincial Government of Negros Occidental-P1,251,620.84,” Cordero disclosed.
Yet efforts in Bacolod and Negros Occidental are beset with constraints though. With logistical limitations, Cordero admitted that so much public biddings were not checked.
“We were not able to send Observers to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and other local government units and barangays within the Diocese of Bacolod,” he said while adding, “If all public procurements are observed by trained, knowledgeable and capable volunteers, the overall savings could have been much bigger and higher.”
“The presence of independent, vigilant, capable and professional Observers strengthen faithful compliance of the Procurement Law and the implementing rules and regulations as well as pave the way for the eventual demand for transparency and accountability from these people who are responsible with the procurement process of the national agencies or local government units. We are not capable and equipped to monitor the implementation of the projects and we do not have trained people handle the monitoring activities related to specific functions of project monitoring in the implementation phase of the project/s after the contract has been awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bidder (LCRB). This area and aspect of transparency and accountability in governance is needed to further maximize the gains we have generated so far in our fight against corruption,” Cordero stressed.