Ex-councilor blames vice mayor over phone project

CAGAYAN de Oro City ex-councilor Edgar Cabanlas laid Thursday the blame for the mothballed rural telephone system on Vice Mayor Vicente Emano, saying the former mayor failed vet the contractor properly before it was awarded a multi-million project.

Cabanlas, the majority floor leader when the P49 million contract for the Barangay Rural Telephone System was approved in 2003, said Emano-including a number of City Hall engineers and technicians involved in the project-should be investigated for possible irregularities.

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The former councilor said he was even willing to be included in the investigation, though he added this may not be possible because Mayor Constantino Jaraula-an Emano ally-terminated the inquiry on the bungled project shortly after creating a probe panel in 2008.

Nevertheless, Cabanlas said the City Council was not to blame for the failure of the project, whose goal was to provide wireless telephone lines to some 17 upland barangays.

"Our job at the City Council was to review the contract-nothing else. We peruse the conditions, specifications, limitations and duration of the project," the former councilor said.

He added: "We have nothing to do with the verification of the contractor's credentials; that's supposed to be the job of the executive department, which handles the bidding process for any project."

A longtime Emano ally, Cabanlas left the administration party after failing to get a congressional nomination in 2007. He said he had no regrets in having taken part in the approval of the project, as he had deemed it "beneficial for the upland folk, whose only bridge to the rest of the city is a modern telecommunications system."

"It was a noble project, and we believed on its significance. What we didn't know is that we got the wrong contractor," Cabanlas said, referring to the Supplier Contractor and Networking Telecommunications (Scantel), which has failed to fully install the wireless telephone since it began working on the project seven years ago.

The National Telecommunications Commission has found Scantel liable for implementing the telephone project without securing accreditation; illegal importation of telecommunications equipment; illegal installation of radio communication devices; illegal operation of radio communication equipments, among others.

Misamis Oriental Governor Moreno, another ally-turned critic of Emano's said the fines slapped on Scantel by NTC "did not obliterate" possible irregularities in the project.

"You're in the government and you dealt with somebody who is not authorized to operate a certain project?" said Govenor Moreno, a lawyer.

The governor said the Scantel fiasco issue has become "a showcase of how the culture of impunity rules at City Hall."

Speaking on his radio program over the weekend, the governor said Emano and other officials involved in the project are liable for graft and corruption.

Last week, Councilor Aaron Neri, president of the Association of Barangay Council (ABC), reported the complaints brought by several project recipients on the defective phones.

While some barangays are experiencing poor signal transmission, Neri said others have none at all.

Despite this, Emano insisted that the phones "are working well" and that the current disruption experienced by a number of recipients can be fixed.

Emano also defended his administration from the shortcomings of Scantel, which was found to have violated telecommunication laws at least 17 times before and during the implementation of the project.

"Maybe there were technical requirements nga gipangayo sa NTC nga wala nahatag sa Scantel," vice mayor said. "So, unsa man ang panagsingki, ila ra kana and these are nothing but mere technicalities." (DVA)