Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora yesterday said he will file charges for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella and others involved in the purchase of an overpriced Information Technology package given to the different schools in the city.

Zamora said he will include in the case to be filed before the Office of the Ombudsman Department of Education regional director Victorino Tirol and the Merryland Publishing Corp., the supplier of the IT package.

He said that, based on the report submitted by the investigation panel, it is clear that there was an overprice in the purchase of the IT package and this is grossly disadvantageous to the government. Tirol refused to give any comment for now, while Puentevella, who was in Manila, could not be reached.

The investigation was conducted because of the numerous complaints received by the City Legal Office, particularly that of RGMA Super Radyo anchorman Donard Nojas, who said that records from the Department of Budget and Management show that 38 public schools in 2004 and 33 in 2005 each received an IT package worth P400,000consisting of two computer units and accessories.

In his complaint, Nojas said the solon had allocated and spent P10.4 million in 2002, P15.2 million in 2004, and P13.2 million in 2005 from his Priority Development Assistance Fund for the purchase of IT equipment.

OVERPRICED BY 50 PERCENT?

The investigation report submitted by the legal panel said the IT packages worth P400,000 each, which was distributed by the Congressional Office of Puentevella to the different schools, was overpriced by not less than 50 percent of the contract price.

It said that during the investigation, they discovered that various secondary and elementary schools were recipients of "branded" IT computer packages from the Department of Trade and Industry worth about P300,000 which were far superior to the computer package that is the subject of their investigation. The report said that, as to the usage and performance of the computer package given by the solon, it was found out that 95-98 percent of these schools made use of the equipment as office equipment, since, either the computers were defective or do not serve the purpose.

It said activities or exercises in the CD's or instructional materials are suited to "single type learning" and not for group activities or exercises and when tested in the computers, could not be accessed.

DEFECTIVE, INCOMPATIBLE

The reports said most of the CD's are either still kept in the cabinets or boxes, not yet opened by reason of incompatibility, the computer CPU is defective, or no picture is coming out in the monitor other than the wallpaper reflecting the picture of Puentevella.

It said the English instruction in the CD's are given in foreign accents and the students have difficulty in comprehending them. The end-users said that if the amount of P400,000 were given to them, they could have purchased 10 sets of computers with IT packages, it said.

The report said a locally purchased branded IT computer package with the corresponding CD's and instructional materials, compared to the IT package worth P400,000 distributed to the schools, would only cost P130,400.

In the secondary level, a high-end computer package with pricing of the CD's would only cost P210,000, it said.

DELIVERY DOCUMENTS

The report said there were already 23 computer packages delivered to the high school and 41 to the elementary level. It said there is a possible overprice of P11,053,600 in the purchase of IT packages for the elementary level, and P4,370,000 in the secondary level. There were also schools that have not yet received the computer package but their officials were made to sign documents for the delivery of computers, it added.

The report also said the acquisition of overpriced computer packages is a clear violation of the law, particularly R.A. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The investigation team is composed of Assistant City Legal Officer Gliceria Caduhada, Legal Officer III Vicente Petierre III, and Legal Officers II Bartolome Malde and Danny Pondevilla.*CGS

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