Friday, March 23, 2007 P365.8M on lamps By Karlon N. Rama & Elias O. Baquero Sun.Star Staff Reporters
A TOTAL of P365.8 million was used to buy the allegedly overpriced lamps and streetlights for the Asean summit and all was charged to the P816-million Motor Vehicle Users Charge fund of the Land Transportation Office.
Some 2,310 lamps and streetlights were put up in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu by two contractors—Gampik Construction and Development Inc. and Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. Contractors were promised payment in two releases.
The first release was for phase one—the supply and installation of 360 decorative lamps in Cebu City, 300 more in Mandaue and the putting up of 78 single-arm, 58 double-arm and 4 triple-arm streetlights, all in Mandaue.
They amount to P100 million. Only 85 percent of the amount was released, though.
Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez stopped the release of the balance and the whole contract amount covered in phase two, which includes the installation of 89 decorative lamps from C.D. Seno to the W.O. Seno Sts. and from J. Briones up to Plaridel St., all in Mandaue, for P20 million.
The lampposts there were painted blue and distinguishable by their round heads.
The second package is worth P245.87 million.
The contract between the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Fabmik Construction and Equipment Corp., signed by Isabelo Braza, Gloria Dindin and Pureza Fernandez, set the unit price of the decorative lamps in Mandaue at P224,000 each, inclusive of installation.
The same contract also set the cost of the single, double and triple arm units at P314,698.33, P325,916.69 and P350,090.48, respectively, including installation cost.
Of the 2,310 lamps and streetlights, 1,860 were decorative lamps. The rest were streetlights—298 single-arm, 148 double-arm and four triple-arm models.
The DPWH regional office confirmed the numbers in a single-page document submitted to the anti-graft office yesterday, a day after the office wrapped up its investigation on the alleged massive overpricing of the streetlights.
Road users
A separate release from the LTO confirmed where the funds were sourced—P816 million from the motor vehicles road users tax.
Most of the lamps and streetlights were installed in Lapu-Lapu, with the total bill there reaching P174 million, but none of these have been paid.
Mandaue got the second highest number of items, with the bill reaching P130,020,000. A large portion of the contract has been paid.
Cebu City got the least, with the bill reaching only P61,050,000.
Businessman Crisologo Saavedra, in an interview yesterday, expressed surprise over the figures in Lapu-Lapu City.
He plans to amend the plunder complaint he has filed to include Lapu-Lapu Mayor Aturo Radaza.
POWE
This is after he got information that Lapu-Lapu prepared its own program of works and estimates (POWE) for the transaction.
The original complaint only named Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano, the contractors and a Land Bank of the Philippines official.
Mandaue City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio, in a press conference, had admitted that they prepared the POWE “upon the request of the DPWH.”
Ouano, who plans to sue Saavedra for implicating him, approved it.
Lawyer Richard Sison, consultant to the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City mayor and personal lawyer of Mayor Radaza, expressed surprise over Saavedra’s plan. He said he did not know anything about the city preparing its own POWE.
National
“What I know is that the purchase was made using national funds and national funds alone,” he said, adding that local government units do not make the POWE of projects unless it is nationally funded.
Cebu City Planning and Development Officer Nigel Paul Villarete said the best way to resolve whether the purchase is overpriced is for the local governments and DPWH to release the POWE and for the contractors to come clean.
The POWE is a technical document prepared by planners before the procurement of particular supplies or the implementation of a certain infrastructure project.
As for DPWH’s source of funds, LTO 7 Director Alex Leyson said the road users tax is collected from owners who register their vehicles.
About P435 million of the P816-million funds was spent on road asphalting, traffic surveillance cameras and lampposts.
