ANTI-TRAPO MOVEMENT
FILES GRAFT CASE
VERSUS
6 DOTC OFFICIALS
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| Ka Leon Estrella Peralta at the Office of the Ombudsman |
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| Ka Leon outside the Office of the Ombudsman after filing the case |
6 DOTC execs face graft raps
MANILA, Philippines - Six officials
of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) are facing graft
charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for their alleged involvement in
bidding anomalies in connection with the multibillion-peso Road Transportation
Information Technology Infrastructure Project (RTITIP) for the Land
Transportation Office (LTO).
DOTC Undersecretaries Rene Limcaoco
and Jose Perpetuo Lotilla; Assistant Secretaries Ildefonso Patdu Jr., Dante
Lantin and Catherine Jennifer Gonzales; and LTO director Alfonso Tan were
accused of violating the Government Procurement Reform Act and the Code of
Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
It was the first graft complaint
filed with the Office of the Ombudsman for this year.
In an 80-page complaint, Leon
Estrella Peralta, representing the anti-graft watchdog Anti-Trapo Movement of
the Philippines Inc., said the respondents, along with several John Does,
manipulated the bidding process in favor of Stradcom Corp., LTO’s IT provider
since 1998.
Peralta said the DOTC officials
“strayed far, far away” from President Aquino’s “daang matuwid” by going around
Malacañang’s call for absolute transparency in the procurement process.
He said the DOTC officials are
pushing for an extension of Stradcom Corp.’s contract by causing a failure of
bidding and make it impossible for a new IT provider to take over when the
firm’s contract expires on Feb. 11.
Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1The anti-graft watchdog said the bids and awards committee also illegally charged P1 million each for the bid documents in violation of the P75,000 prescribed rate set by the Government Procurement Policy Board and procurement laws.
Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1The anti-graft watchdog said the bids and awards committee also illegally charged P1 million each for the bid documents in violation of the P75,000 prescribed rate set by the Government Procurement Policy Board and procurement laws.
Limcaoco is also being accused of
meeting with Stradcom Corp. officials outside the DOTC premises and beyond
office hours before the opening of bids last Nov. 26.
Transparancy International said
Limcaoco even submitted a P1.3-billion budget proposal for the implementation
of the RTITIP project on the first year when the required budget was P3.105
billion.
“All these taken altogether and
combined with other acts, from the start, the bidding process was designed for
the procurement process to fail,“ Peralta said.
Please follow this link:
http://www.philstar.com/metro/2013/01/03/892667/6-dotc-execs-face-graft-raps
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