NPO officials to face graft charges for bidding fraud

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The Ombudsman has affirmed the indictment for graft of National Printing Office (NPO) Acting Director Emmanuel Andaya and five others over the anomalous procurement of the clearance certificates of the National Bureau of Investigation without public bidding.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said she affirmed the finding of probable cause against Andaya, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chair Sylvia Banda and BAC members Josefina Samson, Antonio Sillona, Bernadette Lagumen, and Ma. Gracia Enriquez.

They are set to face charges for the violations of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The charges stemmed from the anomalous procurement of 1,000 boxes of Travel Clearance Certificates (TCC) requested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in 2010.

The Ombudsman said Andaya approved the BAC resolution resorting to emergency procurement of the TCCs at P1,900 per box.

The contract was awarded to Advance Computer Forms Inc. (Advance) in November 2010 with the lowest calculated and responsive bid of P1.899.95/box for a total contract price of P1.89 million.

The accused also authorized the advance delivery of the TCCs before the issuance of a notice of award.

The Ombudsman said that Andaya acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence when he awarded the contract to Advance without the benefit of a public bidding as required under the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The Ombudsman said there were no conditions to justify the absence of public bidding and resort to the alternative mode of procurement.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said “the conditions to resort the alternative methods of procurement are not empty words but were specifically crafted to guarantee that no personal preference is given to any supplier and that the government is given the best possible price for its procurement, especially since no public bidding is involved.”