Saturday, May 05, 2007 Rap over Gwen’s kin taken out
SAYING he is honest enough to apologize when wrong, businessman Crisologo Saavedra yesterday withdrew one complaint he filed against Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
The complaint was for alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for Garcia’s getting a first cousin as materials supplier for the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
“It was an honest mistake, committed without malice. I am sorry,” he said.
But all the rest of his graft complaints against the CICC construction still stand.
The existing complaints include the plunder charge against the governor for alleged misspending for the CICC and for alleged anomalies in the bidding of the project, particularly the splitting of contracts.
The governor denied any misspending in a presentation at the Capitol last Thursday, arguing that the CICC is even cheaper than two other projects of the same kind when computed by cost per square meter.
But Saavedra said the fact remains that the governor overshot the approved budget.
During her presentation, Garcia said the CICC structure cost about P475 million. The Capitol had allocated P515 million for its construction.
The governor, through her younger brother and lawyer, Pablo John Garcia, earlier gave Saavedra 24 hours to withdraw and to publicly apologize for filing his last complaint against the governor.
The call was made after Garcia made her presentation on the CICC.
“I spoke with the author and he said the portion I quoted contained a typographical error. The governor’s cousin is not a relative of the third degree and not covered by the prohibition,” Saavedra said in an interview yesterday.
Text
The author being referred to is Sofronio Ursal and the portion mentioned was Ursal’s take on Section 47 of the Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act, as contained in his book—the “Government Procurement Toolkit.”
Saavedra had used Ursal’s interpretation of Section 47 when he filed his latest complaint against the governor, the entire Diamond Interior Industries Corp. Board of Directors and the entire provincial bids and awards committee before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas last Wednesday.
Diamond Interiors was the supplier in two transactions for the CICC—the supply of roller blinds worth P1.3 million and metal cladding services worth P7.5 million.
Businessman Clint Tio, who is married to the governor’s first cousin on her mother’s side, Karen Fiel-Tio, owns diamond Interiors.
Karen worked as executive assistant when Garcia’s father, former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia, was still in office.
“It is an honest mistake. He said it was a typographical error. And since I based my complaint on that, what I said was therefore wrong,” Saavedra said.
But Saavedra clarified that he is not apologizing for filing the previous charges.
He was not convinced by the governor’s presentation held at the Capitol. But he was not among those invited.
Saavedra said the governor simply tried to justify the expense but did not extinguish any possible liability over the violations committed in the procurement phase of the project.
Moreover, he said the governor cannot compare a construction project with another and say the Province’s was cheaper because the other one turned out to have cost more.
He pointed out that the CICC differs in design, materials, terms of reference and specifications from the two construction projects she used as benchmark in her presentation.
Garcia compared the CICC with similar facilities such as the Ilocos Norte Hotel and Convention Center and the Negros Oriental Hotel and Convention Center. She said the CICC has a smaller cost per square meter of work, at P22,625.18.
“You cannot compare an apple with a banana,” Saavedra quipped.
Paperwork
With her presentation, Saavedra said the governor essentially confirmed committing variations of the plan and dealing directly with suppliers—something that the procurement law does not allow.
“At least everything is now out in the open and it is now up to the Ombudsman to appreciate the facts as presented in relation to existing laws. That is the only thing we wanted in the first place,” he said.
For him, the project was anomalous from the start because the allocation for it was approved by the Provincial Board despite the alleged failure of the governor to submit the terms of specifications, plans and program of works, bill of materials, canvassing of the bill of materials, proof of lot ownership and feasibility study.
Saavedra said these documents are prerequisites in the allocations of budget for the project. (KNR)
