By Leila Salaverria (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100426-266445/Comelec-exec-tagged-in-secrecy-folder-deal
MANILA, Philippines—The winning bidder in the scuttled purchase by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of ballot secrecy folders bagged a contract in 2008 after an election executive allegedly defied a directive of the poll body to postpone the bidding, a Comelec official said.
Lawyer Melchor Magdamo, who is assigned to the office of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, made the statement in an affidavit he submitted to a panel investigating the earlier decision to buy from OTC Paper Supply 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders at P380 each, a deal worth nearly P700 million.
The secrecy folder deal has since been junked, but the poll body has decided to probe the circumstances leading to its decision to buy the “extravagant” folders.
OTC has disputed claims that the folders were overpriced and has contested the Comelec decision not to push through with the contract.
Magdamo, in an interview, also disclosed that it was he who told Arwin Serrano of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) about the questionable price of the ballot secrecy folders.
Serrano sent a letter to the Comelec legal chief, Ferdinand Rafanan, about his misgivings. The latter wrote Melo about the price of the folders.
Jose Tolentino
Magdamo, in his affidavit dated April 15, alleged that the Comelec’s then Bids and Awards Committee chair, Jose Tolentino Jr., pushed through with the bidding for the contract to buy voter registration-record (VRR) binders and plastic fillers in 2008 despite a directive from the poll body to hold it in abeyance.
The company that won the bidding was OTC Paper Supply.
Magdamo narrated that on Feb. 14, 2008, the Comelec’s Finance Services Department (FSD) issued a certification that P99.58 million was available for the purchase of VRR binders and plastic fillers.
A few days later, then Comelec acting chair Romeo Brawner wrote a memorandum to Tolentino, who is also the Comelec’s executive director, telling him to postpone the bidding for the binders and fillers until after the FSD shall have apprised the poll body about its financial status.
The next month, another Comelec lawyer, Judy Lorenzo, requested Brawner to approve the purchase of 42,000 VRR binders and 8.4 million plastic fillers, saying these items were needed for the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Highly irregular
But the poll body affirmed Brawner’s directive that the bidding be suspended until after the FSD shall have submitted its report. Magdamo alleged that the proposal was again brought to the poll body during the same meeting, which he described as “highly unusual and irregular,” but the request was shot down.
Later, the Comelec decided to schedule the presentation of the FSD report on May 14, 2008. But Magdamo said Tolentino pushed through with the bidding before this date.
“Surprisingly, on 12 May 2008 or two days prior to the 14 May 2008 reporting date, the executive director and concurrent BAC Chairman Jose M. Tolentino Jr. went on ahead with the bidding of VRR holders/binders, plastic fillers, and thumb and fingerprint takers, in open defiance of the clear directives in En Banc Minute Resolutions No. 08-0364 and 08-0375,” Magdamo said.
“Emerging as one of the winners from the openly defiant bidding was a single proprietorship using the name ‘OTC Paper Supply,’” he added.
Folder design
Tolentino was no longer the BAC chair when the Comelec awarded the ballot secrecy folder contract to OTC Paper Supply. But he was the one who presented the design of the folder to the poll body.
Sought for comment, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said no bidding in 2008 was ever questioned by the poll body. Jimenez, who had read Magdamo’s affidavit, said he was unaware that a bidding was held in defiance of the poll body’s order.
“Usually, if there is such a case, there would be an order from the en banc stopping the procurement. Nothing like that happened. So I presume that whatever bidding took place that time, all were above board,” he said.
Magdamo also said in the affidavit that he first learned about the ballot secrecy folder procurement worth P380 after a woman came to Melo’s office, claiming that OTC had copied her ballot secrecy folder design. OTC has a pending application to patent the design.
He said it was the woman who told him that OTC’s folder cost P380 each. He said he did not believe it at first, but the amount was later confirmed.
Syndicate
Magdamo said another colleague of his warned him about a syndicate, and advised him to be careful. When he sensed that things were getting serious, he told the PPCRV about his concerns.
In an interview, Magdamo said he became concerned about his safety because of his revelations and his earlier questioning of Comelec practices, prompting him to lie low for the meantime.
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100426-266445/Comelec-exec-tagged-in-secrecy-folder-deal
MANILA, Philippines—The winning bidder in the scuttled purchase by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of ballot secrecy folders bagged a contract in 2008 after an election executive allegedly defied a directive of the poll body to postpone the bidding, a Comelec official said.
Lawyer Melchor Magdamo, who is assigned to the office of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, made the statement in an affidavit he submitted to a panel investigating the earlier decision to buy from OTC Paper Supply 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders at P380 each, a deal worth nearly P700 million.
The secrecy folder deal has since been junked, but the poll body has decided to probe the circumstances leading to its decision to buy the “extravagant” folders.
OTC has disputed claims that the folders were overpriced and has contested the Comelec decision not to push through with the contract.
Magdamo, in an interview, also disclosed that it was he who told Arwin Serrano of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) about the questionable price of the ballot secrecy folders.
Serrano sent a letter to the Comelec legal chief, Ferdinand Rafanan, about his misgivings. The latter wrote Melo about the price of the folders.
Jose Tolentino
Magdamo, in his affidavit dated April 15, alleged that the Comelec’s then Bids and Awards Committee chair, Jose Tolentino Jr., pushed through with the bidding for the contract to buy voter registration-record (VRR) binders and plastic fillers in 2008 despite a directive from the poll body to hold it in abeyance.
The company that won the bidding was OTC Paper Supply.
Magdamo narrated that on Feb. 14, 2008, the Comelec’s Finance Services Department (FSD) issued a certification that P99.58 million was available for the purchase of VRR binders and plastic fillers.
A few days later, then Comelec acting chair Romeo Brawner wrote a memorandum to Tolentino, who is also the Comelec’s executive director, telling him to postpone the bidding for the binders and fillers until after the FSD shall have apprised the poll body about its financial status.
The next month, another Comelec lawyer, Judy Lorenzo, requested Brawner to approve the purchase of 42,000 VRR binders and 8.4 million plastic fillers, saying these items were needed for the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Highly irregular
But the poll body affirmed Brawner’s directive that the bidding be suspended until after the FSD shall have submitted its report. Magdamo alleged that the proposal was again brought to the poll body during the same meeting, which he described as “highly unusual and irregular,” but the request was shot down.
Later, the Comelec decided to schedule the presentation of the FSD report on May 14, 2008. But Magdamo said Tolentino pushed through with the bidding before this date.
“Surprisingly, on 12 May 2008 or two days prior to the 14 May 2008 reporting date, the executive director and concurrent BAC Chairman Jose M. Tolentino Jr. went on ahead with the bidding of VRR holders/binders, plastic fillers, and thumb and fingerprint takers, in open defiance of the clear directives in En Banc Minute Resolutions No. 08-0364 and 08-0375,” Magdamo said.
“Emerging as one of the winners from the openly defiant bidding was a single proprietorship using the name ‘OTC Paper Supply,’” he added.
Folder design
Tolentino was no longer the BAC chair when the Comelec awarded the ballot secrecy folder contract to OTC Paper Supply. But he was the one who presented the design of the folder to the poll body.
Sought for comment, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said no bidding in 2008 was ever questioned by the poll body. Jimenez, who had read Magdamo’s affidavit, said he was unaware that a bidding was held in defiance of the poll body’s order.
“Usually, if there is such a case, there would be an order from the en banc stopping the procurement. Nothing like that happened. So I presume that whatever bidding took place that time, all were above board,” he said.
Magdamo also said in the affidavit that he first learned about the ballot secrecy folder procurement worth P380 after a woman came to Melo’s office, claiming that OTC had copied her ballot secrecy folder design. OTC has a pending application to patent the design.
He said it was the woman who told him that OTC’s folder cost P380 each. He said he did not believe it at first, but the amount was later confirmed.
Syndicate
Magdamo said another colleague of his warned him about a syndicate, and advised him to be careful. When he sensed that things were getting serious, he told the PPCRV about his concerns.
In an interview, Magdamo said he became concerned about his safety because of his revelations and his earlier questioning of Comelec practices, prompting him to lie low for the meantime.
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