MIRED IN CONTROVERSY The parties involved in this P711.8-million underpass project in Mandaue City may soon face an inquiry by the Ombudsman. —JUNJIE MENDOZA
CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — An anonymous complaint was sent to the Office of the Ombudsman against incumbent and former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for awarding a multimillion underpass project in Mandaue City to a firm which allegedly falsified its records.
The Jan. 31 complaint urged Ombudsman Samuel Martires to look into the DPWH’s contract with B.M. Marketing to build the P711.8-million four-lane underpass on UN Avenue.
The 29-kilometer underpass would lead directly to Marcelo Fernan Bridge, which connects mainland Cebu to Mactan Island.
The complaint alleged collusion between B.M. Marketing and Black Mountain Construction and Marketing Inc. (BMCMI) in falsifying records.
‘Ghost project’The project was called “Black Mountain Eco-Commercial and Industrial Land Development Work” and was owned by BMCMI.
“[But] records show the contract submitted to the Bids and Awards Committee is spurious as there was actually no existing Black Mountain project. The project site cannot be located. There are no available records or proof evidencing the actual existence of the purported project,” said the complaint.
“It being a ghost project could only mean that the work experience used by the key personnel of [BMCMI] in the bidding process was falsified. This clearly goes to show how far BMCMI and his accomplices are willing to go just to undermine the government.”
The complaint further pointed out that construction under the project started on March 17, 2016.
Termination
BMCMI, however, was incorporated only on Sept. 5 that year.
Named respondents were Ador Canlas, former DPWH-Central Visayas director; Odillon Adrino, chair of the Technical Working Group of the Bids and Awards Committee of the DPWH-
Central Visayas; Victoria Gregorio, officer in charge of the DPWH Procurement Service; and Nimfa Potante, former director of the DPWH Procurement Service.
Last year, the DPWH central office ordered the termination of the contract with B.M. Marketing.
Injunction
But B.M. Marketing sought an injunction and the DPWH thereafter filed a motion for reconsideration.
DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo said they were contesting it through the Office of the Solicitor General “because there were some points which we were objecting to.” He refused to elaborate, saying the issues were already in court.
The Inquirer contacted Edgar Tiu, owner of B.M. Marketing, but he declined to comment.
Tiu was listed as sole owner of B.M. Marketing while he and family members were listed as incorporators of BMCMI.