Cover Gwen notebooks firm urged

The supplier of a P22 million order of notebooks and school supplies bearing the name and image of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia is willing to talk with  Capitol officials on what to do with the idle goods found in a Capitol warehouse.

In a telephone interview Robert Go, president of Prince Warehouse, said the order was fully delivered  to the Captiol last year and paid.

“I just got back from a trip,” said Go, saying he was not familiar with  the controversy over the supplies, “but I’m willing to meet with (Acting Gov. Agnes)Magpale,” Go said.

Go said payment for the notebooks and school supplies was  fully settled as of last year.

The contract price was  P22 million. Auditors earlier wrote to Magpale reporting that most of the e notebooks and supplies or 71 percent were still stored in a Capitol warehouse and not distributed yet to public school students who were supposed to receive them in schoolyear 2012-2013.

Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale’s spokesperson, Dara Acusar said they welcome Go’s willingness to meet them on this matter.

She said they hope the company would agree to to remove  the notebook covers and replace them for free.

Acusar said Magpale is adamant that they won’t distribute the notebooks bearing Garcia’s image asbased on COA’s warning that this violates a  Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum that diisallows the names or images of government officials on government projects and programs.

The 2010 policy was signed  by the late Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo.

While no penalty is stated in the memo, the practice is listed as an example of “irregular expenditures” in circular No. 2012-003 of the Commission on Audit based on the DILG policy. Reporters Ador Vincent Mayol and Aileen Garcia-Yap