Even as he admitted he wanted to “give away” the corruption-riddled National Printing Office, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar has ordered an investigation into the mass resignation of the members of the government-owned agency’s Bids and Awards Committee owing to alleged pressure from officials favoring certain bidders.
“The problems in the NPO are endless,” Andanar, whose office supervises the government printer, told reporters in an interview late Friday night.
“Pinamimigay ko na nga yang NPO, kaso wala naman may gustong humawak ng NPO e. Pinamimigay ko na nga yang NPO, ayoko nang hawakan ‘yan [I’ve been giving away the NPO, but no one wants to handle it. I’ve been giving away the NPO, I don’t want to handle it anymore],” he added.
Last Monday, the chairman and members of the BAC resigned en masse amid alleged pressure from new NPO director, Francisco Vales Jr., for favoring Topbest Printing Corp. for the leasing of the machines it runs, contrary to bidding rules.
The BAC’s secretariat members also resigned, citing the same reasons.
“This resignation is prompted by ‘too much’ pressure in the bidding of leasing of printing machines,” the committee members said in their resignation letter addressed to Vales.
A political appointee who assumed office last June, Vales was once an employee of the City Government of Davao, which President Rodrigo Duterte governed for over two decades.
Andanar vowed to present the “entire picture” of the problems inside the agency, which has long been marred by allegations of graft.
He directed Communications Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Enrique Tadan to oversee the probe on the NPO, an attached agency under the Presidential Communications Office.
“It’s my call. I called for an investigation. Why would the entire BAC resign en masse for no specific reason?” he said. “After two weeks you will see the entire picture.”
Tensions had been simmering inside the agency after Vales was seen fraternizing with former NPO officials who were previously suspended, if not dismissed, by the Office of the Ombudsman for irregular transactions.