Graft raps filed vs Bohol gov, other officials

TAGBILARAN CITY –– The former mayor of this city has filed a graft complaint against incumbent officials of Bohol for entering into alleged anomalous transactions.

Former Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Neri Lim on Wednesday requested the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap, Provincial Administrator Kathyrin Fe Pioquinto, and members of the Bids and Awards Committee for their alleged involvement in anomalous transactions, including the purchase of overpriced motorcycles, ambulances, and mobile x-rays.

In a video posted on his Facebook page, Yap denied intervening in the procurement process and wasting public funds amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.

“I take it (complaint) seriously because it is malicious and baseless, especially since they did it while we were trying to protect our province against the pandemic,” he said.

Lim alleged that the Bohol provincial government approved the procurement by way of a negotiated sale of eight units of motorcycles from TWIS Trading worth P718,000 on March 18, 2020.

He said that it was made to appear that the purchase price of each motorcycle was P89,750.

Upon verification, he said a Honda XRM 125 only costs P55,000 for a brand new motorcycle and P18,000 for a second-hand vehicle.

“Comparing the market price and the cost as purchased, there is an overprice of P34,750 per unit or P278,000 for eight units.

Lim also found it illogical for the province to buy motorcycles from a company in Cabuyao in Laguna (Luzon) instead of buying them in Bohol, which would not have entailed additional transportation costs.

When the address of the company was checked, he said TWIS Trading was non-existent.

“The address given was a residential place, phone unattended, no office, and no help desk support and showroom, ” the former mayor said.

The second project awarded by the provincial government of Bohol to TWIS Trading was the purchase of a Communication and Security System with a contract price of P68,714,500.

“It must be noted that the same company has a questionable personality. Specifically, the prices of computers based on the specifications are more than the regular and market prices,” he said.

Another alleged irregular transaction entered into by the provincial government, Lim said, was the rental of the light and sound system of PTM Disco Record Center, intended for the Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX) 2020 which was held on Panglao Island.

The closing program of the activity was on September 25, 2020.

However, the Notice of Award for the procurement was only issued on December 18, 2020, or three months after the activity was conducted.

On June 29, 2020, Lim said a Notice of Award was issued by Yap to Dextel Trading for the purchase of Mobile X-Rays in the total contract price of P22,788,000. Each unit is worth P3.8 million.

“However, upon checking with various suppliers, the cost of the unit of the same specification is only P950,000. In this case, there is overpricing of each unit in the amount of P2.8 million or a total amount of P17 million,” the complainant said.

Another transaction allegedly involved an overpriced ambulance worth more than P20 million.

Lim hoped the Ombudsman could look into the transactions he enumerated in the complaint so that those involved would be made to pay for wasting public funds in the time of a pandemic.

On his Facebook page, Yap said he was not surprised that Lim was at the forefront in filing a complaint against him because the former mayor had been one of his critics.

He said the real intent of the complaint was to tarnish his reputation to have an advantage in the 2021 elections.

“This is the sad reality of politics under our democracy. Those who have no flow and performance will only make baseless cases to make media propaganda just to win the election,” Yap said.

LZB