Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora yesterday assured that there will be no whitewash in the investigation to be conducted by his office on the alleged irregularity involving the purchase of 10 dump trucks.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod will also conduct a separate formal inquiry on the matter.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia has tasked Zamora to look into the allegations of a salesman of Commercial Motors Corporation that there was a “standard operating procedure” involved in the transaction.

Zamora said his office has conducted several investigations already and no whitewash has been involved. He said the Mayor has given him 30 days from the start of the investigation to submit his findings.

He will invite the salesman to an investigation this week so he can reveal who received the alleged “SOP,” Zamora said. If the salesman will not come, he may recommend to the Mayor that the transaction be aborted, he said. If somebody is found to have engaged in the alleged “SOP” he will be slapped with administrative charges and, possibly, criminal charges as well, Zamora added.

Zamora said he may also invite the BAC Secretariat to the investigation since it is in charge of all the documents or records on the bidding process.

The role of the BAC members is to deliberate when the bidding comes, Zamora said. If they find all the documents regular and aboveboard, they will decide on who is the winning bidder, he said.

Leonardia wrote the supplier Tuesday informing them that the city is recalling the award for the purchase of the vehicles pending the result of an investigation.

Meanwhile, the SP yesterday passed a resolution authored by Councilors Alex Paglumotan and Roberto Rojas, authorizing the Committees on Environment, Public Works, Local Government, and Law to conduct a formal inquiry on the purchase of the 10 dump trucks for the city's Solid Waste Management program.

It also passed a resolution authored by Councilors Catalino Alisbo and Celia Flor, requesting the BAC through the Office of the City Mayor to submit a report to the SP in relation to the purchase of 10 dump trucks, and another one by Councilor Jocelle Batapa–Sigue asking for documents relevant to the issue.

Paglumotan said their intention is to help the Mayor protect the coffers of the city. They do not want to deviate from the intention of the Mayor, who issued a suspension of the transaction, he said. They want a formal inquiry conducted so that if ever the allegation is proven, it will not be repeated, he added.

“This is because we respect the Mayor and have faith in him, being the figurehead of our party and the father of the city,” Paglumotan said.

While it is true that they need the dump trucks to collect the voluminous garbage of the city, they only want to ensure that the transaction is aboveboard, he said.*CGS

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