Anti- corruption group joins call for probe into P3.8-B license plate deal

DOTC Secretary Joseph E.A. Abaya INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–An anti-corruption group on Monday joined the call for the government to look into the questionable P3.8-billion contract for license plates.

In a letter to Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and members of the Bids and Awards Committee, Ka Leon Peralta,  Chairman of the Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines (ATM), corroborated  earlier allegations of irregularity in the financial submissions  of J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG) in the bidding for the Department of Transportation and Communications-Land Transportation Office (DOTC-LTO) Vehicle License Plate Standardization Project made by the Action for Consumerism and Transparency for Nation Building (ACTION), a concerned consumer advocacy group, against the Dutch-based bidder.

Peralta said an investigation is necessary to determine the extent of the irregularity and to validate the claims made by ACTION.

The ATM said its research showed that
JKG and its mother company H3 B.V. Goes are a single company named J. Knieriem B.V. and one of seven subsidiaries with varied nature of businesses of the Holding Company of H3 B.V. Goes in The Netherlands.

The group said it already called the attention of Secretary Abaya to this discovery.

As of 2011, all seven subsidiaries under H3 B.V. only have a total number of 45 employees.  The Current and Total Assets of all seven subsidiaries only amounted to €6.264.360 or P338,275,440.00 and €11.250.093 or P 607,505,022.00, respectively.

The Net Income for 2011 of all seven (7) subsidiaries yielded a negative amount of €215.068- or equivalent to P11,613,672.00.

Peralta said in the letter that if JKG submitted its mother company’s 2011 consolidated financial statement for its Financial Eligibility requirement, then there must also be some duly authenticated documents showing H3 B.V.’s consent, such as a Board Resolution or Secretary’s Certificate and more importantly an undertaking of also being solidarily and jointly liable for the project. Without it, he said the submission must be rendered invalid and must hence be rejected by the DOTC-BAC.

But he pointed that even with the Board’s consent, the value of the assets maintained by all seven subsidiaries and the dismal showing of a negative income only confirms the financial incapacity of J. Knieriem B.V. to fund and maintain a P3.8B project.