Saturday, November 15, 2008 Fertilizer maker cries scam, but province denies By Malu Cadelina Manar
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A local manufacturer of agriculture products based in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato is hinting at an anomaly in the bidding for organic fertilizers worth P10-million by the North Cotabato province.
The claim, however, was denied by the provincial administrator who said there has been no winning bid yet that has been declared.
Engineer Remegio Matalubos, executive director of the Grassroots Integral Development Initiative (Gidi) Inc., manufacturer of Gidi organic fertilizers, has questioned the procedure when the Provincial Government's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) granted the project to another distributor of fertilizers based in Agusan del Sur whose products are 80 percent higher than their goods.
"Is this how the bidding process in the government is being undertaken? I am so frustrated," Matalubos said when he appeared during the Provincial Board's (PB) regular session last Wednesday.
The Gidi is a non-government organization (NGO) whose main task is to help empower farmers in the province by introducing to them sustainable farming.
The Gidi sells a bag of organic fertilizer at P250, while the Salazar Group of Companies in Agusan del Sur sells it at P450.
North Cotabato Vice-Governor Emmanuel Piñol said the province's BAC violated the normal bidding process when it awarded the project to the Salazar Group of Companies.
"I even saw a survey form when a farmer was asked his preferred company," said Piñol during the session.
Piñol said that if that was the case, the province's BAC should consider the procurement a negotiated one.
"But a negotiated contract or procurement is only allowed if it has an approval from the Provincial Board," he stressed.
Provincial Administrator and BAC chair Jerry Pieldad, in an interview over dxND, insisted his office has not yet awarded the project to any bidder.
Pieldad said his committee has just started opening the envelopes of those who submitted the bid last Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, none of the bidders passed the specifications set by the Department of Agriculture," he said.
The bidders, including Gidi, were given three days to submit and comply with the requirements.
"It's so disheartening to know that there are people in the government who would immediately jump into conclusions without actually digging the real issue. There is nothing wrong or irregular in this process. I very well know the process," said Pieldad.
