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Thursday, October 24, 2002
Gacal dares members of bid committee to resign
LONE opposition Councilor Franklin Gacal Jr. challenged members of General Santos City's committee on bids and awards to resign from their posts as investigation on alleged anomalies at City Hall continue.
"Kung ganito man lang na marami na masyadong mga anomalya na nangyayari dito, mas mabuti pang mag-resign na lang sila kung wala silang magawa," Gacal said in an interview. (With so many anomalies being committed at City Hall, they better resign if they could not do anything about them.)
The City Council is now conducting an en banc investigation into the failed anomalous tire delivery and reported attempt to bribe City Administrator Rodrigo Salangsang.
City councilors are also investigating the reported re-labeling of generic medicines sold to the city, which similar batches allegedly found their way into local drugstores here.
Gacal said the fact that these scams happened only shows that members of the committee did not do their functions.
But city administrator for finance Marcelino Dospueblos immediately challenged Gacal name the people who would take over their places.
"Kung gusto niyang mag-resign kami, sino naman ang kanyang ipapalit sa amin?" asked Dospueblos. (If he wants us to resign, who will take over our places?)
Dospueblos said members of the committee include department heads and a representative of the council.
He said it was them who unearthed the scams as they intensified their efforts to rid City Hall of anomalies.
As this developed, Gacal said Wednesday that the council should recommend appropriate charges against two City Hall employees who failed to attend the investigation on the tire anomaly.
Gacal chided Apolinario Dalmacio and Jose Suansing for failing to appear during the en banc investigation Tuesday afternoon.
Suansing is a supervisor at the general services office (GSO) while Dalmacio is an inspector at the city engineer's office (CEO).
"The City Council can recommend the appropriate charges against them for failure to comply with their investigation," Gacal said.
The two claimed they do not have to appear in the en banc inquiry as they were already placed under one-month preventive suspension.
But Gacal said Suansing and Dalmacio are still obliged to attend in the investigation even though they are under preventive suspension.
"This investigation is in aid of legislation. We are performing here a governmental function for which Suansing and Dalmacio cannot take for granted," Gacal said.
Druing the resumption of the hearing Tuesday, Silver Tire Trader owner Juvy Indayan is now blaming her warehouseman-driver Ronito Espidiña and two laborers whom she said were hired as extra employees.
She told councilors the three might have inadvertently swapped the tires purchased by the city government to the delivery intended for Entire Valley Trading in Davao City.
She said they made deliveries to Davao City on the July 9 and 10, the same day Silver Tire delivered the questioned tires at City Hall.
Silver Tire delivered 46 China-made cheap tire brands to the City Government, which did not conform by the specifications of the purchase order, on the same dates.
City Hall earlier ordered 78 Goodyear and Bridgestone tries from the supplier.
Dospueblos said City Hall could have been defrauded by P124,000 if the anomalous delivery was not discovered. Danilo A. Reyes and Merlyn F. Velarde |
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