THE Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement a three-month suspension order on nine officials of Iloilo for irregularities in the procurement of medicines and medical supplies.
Those found guilty of simple misconduct were Lyd Tupas, accountant; Sandra Bionat, assistant accountant; lawyer Edgar Sumido, Ramie Salcedo, Corazon Beloria, Romeo Andig, Glenda Losanta, Antonio Muralla and Julius Tidon, all members of the bids and awards committee or BAC.
In January to May 2010, 14 contracts for the procurement of various medicines and medical supplies worth P5,342,100 were awarded to a single supplier, the anti-graft and corruption office said.
“A closer look at the bidding documents showed the respondents resorted to the alternative method of emergency procurement claiming that the province was severely hit by Typhoon “Frank” in 2008,” the Ombudsman said.
No BAC resolutions were presented to justify the resort to the alternative method of procurement, it added.
In a decision, the Ombudsman agreed with the Commission on Audit when it observed that “the procurements were done from January to May 2010, or almost two years after the typhoon, which removed the situation from the ambit of an emergency.”
“Even if the procurement could be considered emergency purchases, the absence of a BAC resolution recommending the alternative mode of procurement not only violated Section 12, Republic Act No. 9184 (the Government Procurement Reform Act), but also demonstrated the BAC’s blind adherence to the purchase requests without regard to its responsibility of ensuring that the procuring entity abides by the standards set forth by R.A. No. 9184 and its IRR,” the Ombudsman’s resolution read.