By Leonardo Micua

 

BASED on copies of some official records sent to me being a journalist, it is clear as a morning day to say that some corrupt people in government who exploited the COVID-19 pandemic were laughing all the way to the bank.

One example were the 1,242 units of Lenovo 2-in-1 laptop/tablet that was purchased by the past Dagupan City administration at P34,361,172 via bulk order in August 2021, during the time of the pandemic ostensibly for the public school students’ use  undergoing online tutoring from their teachers.

The intention was good but the items procured were clearly overpriced and did not conform with to the needs of the users, because of old technology applied. That transaction surely made some people connected with the city government richer, never mind that the units could not be used.

That transaction was, in fact, among patently anomalous transactions exposed by Mayor Belen Fernandez in her first meeting with the Local Development Council (LDC) in early January which I initially did not pay much attention to.

But when she mentioned it again during her program “Kumustahan, Talakayan at Balitaan”, where I was one of the panelists, I realized it was, indeed, another major  anomalous transaction

That is why, I am writing more lengthily about this issue now.

According to the mayor the bulk of the funds used for the purchase of 1,242 units of Lenovo laptop/tablet by the past city administration was sourced out from the P30 million funding she allotted in 2019 (when she was the city mayor) for the construction of a three-storey science building of the Dagupan City National High School. (DCNHS needed a building where laboratory equipment and science books sent to it by the Department of Education national office can be stored).

Based on a partial investigation, the overpriced Lenovo Ideapad D330 units procured using that fund were found to be outdated and, therefore, could no longer be used by intended beneficiaries. The specified requirements were not followed.

Records showed these items were procured by bulk order from HideTech Corporation based in Mandaluyong City, Manila, at a retail price of P20,999 per unit, a clear overprice of P10,999. Even then, the prevailing market price of the unit same in 2021 was reportedly only P10,000.  And since it was procured and ordered as a bulk, its unit price should have been lower than P10,000.

Fielding a question from broadcaster Freddie Fajardo, Mayor Fernandez said the total units delivered to DCNHS were short of 24 units; and in a recent inventory conducted of the tablets delivered to the Bonuan Boquig National High School, 92 units were missing.

Mayor Belen received a report that in the case of the gadgets delivered to DCNHS, sealed, completely unopened boxes were reported empty. The City Legal Office already wrote the supplier for its explanation.

Somebody must be made responsible for this flagrant theft of people’s money. We wonder too, why the General Service Office (GSO) did not exercise due diligence in inspecting the items before their acceptance.

And what about the COA? Did it exercise its mandate in scrutinizing the documents  pertaining to the procurement? Did it note if proper procedures were observed, from the bidding to the delivery?

“Kawawa ang mga teachers (property custodians) ng mga schools na ito,” said Fernandez. Surely, they will be asked about the missing items.

Although the transaction occurred during the past administration, sadly it is the Belen Fernandez administration that’s being asked by the COA to conduct an inventory of these items and make a report.

At the LDC meeting sometime in early January, Belen already confirmed that no physical inventory was conducted on the delivered equipment before she assumed her post.

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