PhilPost denies unbidded contracts

“Shooting from the hip.”

So said the Philippine Postal Corp. about the charges of graft and grave misconduct leveled at PhilPost  postmaster general Josefina de la Cruz by an alleged journalist’s group.

PhilPost said the accusations that it recently entered into non-bidded contracts with a telecommunications company and a computer company were a “damaging” “injustice” borne of “personal gripes.”

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, De la Cruz vehemently denied the complaints filed with the Ombudsman by the journalist group Alab ng Mamahayag (Alam) led by Berteni Causing and Tirso Paglicawan Jr.  Alam alleged that PhilPost had entered into a contract with  Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) for 200 computers bundled with two-year Internet connections each, and another contract with Xitrix for 100 computers and 45 barcode scanners without bidding or the required publication of documents.

But the postmaster general provided copies of documents to prove that PhilPost’s P9,515,200 connectivity contract underwent proper bidding and procurement procedures. The same documents were provided for two contracts worth P2,374,750 and P591,925.00 with Xitrix Computer Corp.

“No government agency will do without public bidding. We have these contracts well-documented,” De la Cruz said.

The documents will be presented to the Ombudsman once PhilPost receives a copy of Alam’s complaint, De la Cruz said.