Cebu City government-owned garbage trucks used to line up to wait for their turn to dump their garbage load at the private landfill in Consolacion town.
CDN FILE PHOTO
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has made good his threat to file cases against officials of the previous administration over the alleged anomalous transaction involving the use of a private landfill in Consolacion town.
Osmeña, representing the Cebu City government, filed a criminal and administrative complaint against former mayor Michael Rama, former members of the bids and awards committee (BAC) as well as Asian Energy Systems Corp. (AESC), the operator of the private landfill.
The former officials were accused of violating Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, falsification of public documents under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and gross neglect of duty for allegedly favoring AESC to be the city’s landfill choice even if there were other providers in Metro Cebu.
“Klaro kaayo nga baho kaayo ang transaction (It’s clear that the transaction was fishy). As if the only way is to go to Consolacion. Central is the misrepresentation of (Dionisio) Gualiza, saying Asian is the only landfill available. DENR said no, daghan kaayo (there are others),” the mayor told reporters hours before staff from the City Legal Office formally filed the complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas yesterday afternoon.
The mayor was referring to former Department of Public Services (DPS) head Dionisio Gualiza who, in his purchase requests in 2013 and 2014, used the justification that there was no other landfill located in Metro Cebu except AESC and that it was the sole provider of landfill services.
The same certification/ justification was adopted by the BAC for goods and services to fulfill Gualiza’s purchase requests during the previous administration.
Also named respondents in the complaint are former BAC officials Ester Concha who used to be the chairperson, Belinda Navascues who used to be the vice-chairperson, and former BAC members Rolando Ardosa, Conrado Ordesta and Collin Rosell.
The main argument in the complaint was the city’s approval of P25.4 million worth of purchase orders (POs) issued during the previous administration in favor of AESC as the city’s landfill of choice despite the presence of other suppliers. The payment was for the dumping of a total of 36,399 tons of garbage at the private landfill at a rate of P700 per ton.
The first PO was dated December 4, 2013 and amounted to P9.9 million. The second was dated March 4, 2014 for the amount of P15.4 million.
Both were done through direct contracting, bypassing the bidding process which is mandated under RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Justification
Attached in the purchase requests (PRs) for both transactions was a certification from Gualiza stating that “there is no other landfill located within Metro Cebu other than Asian Energy Systems Corp.”
“However, contrary to the BAC’s statement that Respondent Asian Energy System Corp. was the sole supplier of Garbage Solid Waste disposal services, the next procurement provided otherwise, as the BAC awarded a similar procurement to another supplier, Bio Nutrient Waste Management, Inc.,” the complaint read.
Subsequently, in an August 3, 2017 letter, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 clarified that they did not issue any certification that AESC was the sole exclusive landfill provider in Cebu.
Another letter dated August 9, 2017 from the EMB showed a list of all other landfill operators with environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) aside from AESC. There were at least 13 other landfills either privately owned or managed by local government units like in Toledo City, Talisay City and Pinamungajan town.
“As an alternative mode to public bidding, direct contracting may be resorted to only in highly exceptional cases; a prior industry survey must be conducted by the BAC,” the complaint pointed out, adding that the BAC did not care to verify the certification made by Gualiza and immediately adopted it as “gospel truth” and proceeded with directly awarding the POs to AESC.
If the officials conducted an industry survey before proceeding with the direct contracting process, they would have found out that there were other suppliers of landfill services apart from AESC, the complaint stated.
“They could have given the other suppliers an equal opportunity to participate in the procurement process, thus promoting the principles of transparency, competitiveness, simplicity and accountability mandated in the RA No. 9184,” the complaint read.
Aside from holding the respondents liable for the criminal and administrative violations he cited, Osmeña, also asked the Ombudsman to specifically impose a preventive suspension against Concha, Ardosa, and Ordesta who are still in government service.
The rest of the other officials are no longer in City Hall.
Transparent
Sought for comment, former mayor Rama said he will wait for a formal copy of the complaint and have it answered by his lawyer.
“We have always been clear as propounded long time ago. Everything was transparent. We observed what ought to be observed,” Rama told CDN in a phone interview.
Rama also brought the focus back on Osmeña, saying the current mayor is being “haunted” by his solid waste management style. He said the city government has been spending so much more for garbage hauling services under the current administration compared to what it spent during his mayorship.
Concha on the other hand, refused to give any statement regarding the complaint, saying she will wait for a copy of the complaint. She also said she cannot clearly remember the details of the acts being questioned.
CDN also tried to get the comment of Gualiza but his personal cell phone number could not be reached.