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Thursday, March 01, 2007
Gov't urges high court to junk suit v. textbook deal (10:17 a.m.)
MANILA -- State lawyers have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss a suit filed by a losing textbook supplier seeking to nullify the multimillion-dollar World Bank (WB)-funded project for the procurement of textbooks in public schools.
The entire project involves US$100 million, $40 million of which was allotted for the purchase of textbooks in Science, English and Social Studies.
During oral arguments held last Tuesday, Assistant Solicitor General Renan Ramos told the magistrates that the contract entered into by the Department of Education (DepEd) with textbook dealers led by Vibal Publishing House Inc. was above board.
Ramos said the contract was done in compliance with the guidelines for procurement with the WB's financing and with the provisions of the legal agreement for the
WB-assisted Second Social Expenditure Management Project (SEMP2).
He argued that Kolonwel Trading, a losing bidder for the project, failed to question the award of the contract before the proper party, in this case the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) since it was the one that headed the procurement. (ECV) |
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