Graft complaint filed vs Diokno, other BSP execs for P1.75-B contract for IDs

MANILA, Philippines—A group opposed to corruption in government has filed a complaint at the Ombudsman against officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), led by Governor Benjamin Diokno, for an allegedly anomalous contract with a foreign company for equipment and materials to produce Philippine Identification Cards (PhilID) under the National ID System.

Ricardo V. Fulgencio IV, chair of the group Stop Corruption Philippines Inc. (SCOPI) which filed the complaints, said the bidding process for equipment and materials for PhilID cards was flawed because the bids and awards committee (BAC) of the BSP Security Plant Complex (BSP-SPC), which is in charge of procuring materials for the cards, specified a brand name—OVD Kinegram AD—which was prohibited by procurement laws.

Fulgencio said specifications in the BSP’s technical specifications and terms of reference “show a specific reference to a brand name—that of Kinegram.”

He said the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) provided that “reference to brand names shall not be allowed,” which was contrary to what he said was what BSP-SPC did.

“Specifying any brand name is not allowed by the GPRA,” Fulgencio said in the complaints.

He said Section 18 of the law was “unequivocal.” “The fact that the respondents specified a brand name, Kinegram, is without doubt a transgression” of the law, Fulgencio said.

Aside from Diokno, other BSP officials named in the complaints and accused of violating the procurement law and committing graft were:

• Prudence Angelita Kasala, BSP-SPC Bids and Awards Committee chair
• Rogel Joseph Del Rosario, BSPD director
• Carl Cesar Bibat, BSP-SPC acting production manager
• Marianne Santos, BAC vice chairp
• Salvador Del Mundo, BSP-SPC Bids and Awards Committee member
• Giovanni Israel Joson, BSP-SPC Bids and Awards Committee member

Fulgencio said the officials favored and gave unwarranted benefits to OVD Kinegram AD and awarded the contract for PhilIDs without public bidding.

He said the P1.75 billion contract had been awarded in violation of procurement rules.

“This nefarious act was embedded in the lease of card production equipment and lease of card personalization equipment,” Fulgencio said.

“In simple words, OVD Kinegram AG won a multimillion contract…without going through the required public bidding,” he said.

Citing cost records, he said more than P900 million would be paid to OVD Kinegram AG for materials and more than P841 million for polycarbonate.

INQUIRER.net sought the side of Diokno, but he has not replied as of posting time. Recently, Diokno announced that he was taking a medical leave to remove a blood clot after a minor accident.

TSB