Probe sought of spill cleanup anomalies

COAST GUARD workers are the first to respond to the call for a cleanup of the oil spill in Estancia, Iloilo. GUIJO DUENAS

ILOILO CITY—Partylist legislators are demanding an investigation of the government response to the oil spill in Estancia town in Iloilo amid repeated delays and allegations of irregularities in the hiring of a private firm to do the cleanup.

In House Resolution No. 618 filed on Dec. 16, Bayan Muna representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio also called for an investigation of the bidding for the P87-million cleanup contract, which was granted to the Kuan Yu Global Technologies.

The legislators said accountability should be demanded for the award of the contract to Kuan Yu. They said the company was “at best, incompetent to provide immediate and complete response to the oil spill pursuant to the terms of its contract.”

The company “appears to be a fly-by-night entity given its lack of experience and sufficient investment to undertake oil spill management…,” according to the proposed resolution.

The firm was hired by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to remove the remaining bunker fuel from the National Power Corp.-operated Power Barge 103 and clean up the water and coastline of Estancia and neighboring towns contaminated by the oil spill.

Strong winds and huge waves brought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last Nov. 8 dislodged the 35-megawatt barge from its moorings and slammed it onto the rocky coastline, triggering the oil spill.

The legislators said the bidding was “riddled with serious questions.”

They cited the participation of Kuan Yu Global Technologies in a second round of bidding on Nov. 20. Kuan Yu failed to participate in the failed first round of bidding conducted 30 minutes earlier.

The legislators said questions on the bidding process also included the absence of a representative of the Commission on Audit during the bidding.

The resolution also seeks to investigate allegations that a postqualification recommendation disqualifying Kuan Yu for lack of financial and technical competence was “set aside” and a “premature” announcement of the firm as the winning bidder was made before the actual award of the contract.

The resolution also noted the delay in the cleanup operations, the apparent lack of equipment and expertise of Kuan Yu and deterioration of the situation of the community affected by the oil spill.

More than 2,000 residents of Barangay (village) Botongon, who also lost their homes to Yolanda, have been evacuated from their village since Nov. 23 due to toxic fumes. The evacuees have been staying in classrooms and tents at the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College-West Campus.

PSALM, which owns the barge, has denied any irregularities in the bidding.

“The procurement of the contractor… was conducted in accordance with government procurement rules, especially in emergency situations,” the Psalm said in a Dec. 4 statement in its website.

In an earlier interview, Kuan Yu president Karl Ignatius Young said his firm is qualified and has the capacity to undertake the cleanup operations citing its work in the cleanup of oil spills in Guimaras and Semirara, Antique in 2006.

But in their resolution, the legislators cited records of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that showed that until last year, Kuan Yu was formerly registered as Maxx Ionized Alkaline Water Inc. engaged in “collection, purification and distribution of water.”

In its amended articles of incorporation approved on April 16, 2012, the company listed as part of its business oil spill management, marine pollution management and oil spill cleanup. It declared its primary businesses as wholesale trading, electronics, sale of heavy and industrial equipment and others. Its authorized capital is P1 million while the paid up capital is P62,500, according to SEC records.