THE food caterer for the inmates at the National Bilbid Prison questioned on Monday the Bureau of Corrections' blacklist order against it.
Alvin Navarro, Mang Kiko Catering Services Inc. president, maintained that his company did not do anything wrong when they changed their menu from serving pork meat, instead of beef meat, saying they only wanted to ensure that the food served to the inmates were safe and had met the quality standards based on the evaluation of company nutritionists and dietitians.
He said the change in the menu was within the provisions in its contract with the government.
“It was ironic that in our effort to protect the safety of the inmates, we were even blacklisted,” he added.
He hit out at director general Benjamin delos Santos, saying Mang Kiko had been “singled out and discriminated” since he assumed office in January, and that Mang Kiko was even accused of food poisoning.
Last May 27, 900 inmates at the national penitentiary suffered from diarrhea and two of them died.
The Department of Health, however, blamed the incident on the deep well water from where the inmates drank.
In the past 11 years, Mang Kiko has been supplying food to 40,000 inmates at the NBP and four regional penal colonies.
On May 15, Mang Kiko wrote President Rodrigo Duterte, informing him about the irregularities at BuCor.
Mang Kiko won the December 2016 bidding to cater food for July to December this year, but BuCor’s bids and awards committee canceled its award and ordered a rebid.
According to Navarro, they filed a motion for reconsideration with BuCor, to no avail.
“We fear that BuCor management would ultimately resort to self-administration to run the feeding services wherein BuCor itself will run the feeding services. Such setup has been proven to be inefficient and breed corruption,” he said.
Lorna Kapunan, Mang Kiko lawyer, alleged a conspiracy within the bureau to get back at Mang Kiko.
“Despite DoH findings that the water was the cause of diarrhea, BuCor came out with a blacklist order on Mang Kiko,” she said, adding a rebidding of the food services for the second half of 2017 was illegal.
Meanwhile, Commission on Audit state auditor III Julieta Abonalla called the attention of BuCor resident auditor Josefina Gonzales, invoking that any bidder must be able to fulfill Section 23.4.13 of Republic Act 9184’s implementing rules and regulations.
“During the bidding, it was observed that the single largest completed contract of Aurora F. Sumulong Eatery of P42,400,800 for lots 1 and 2 did not meet the required SLCC of 50 percent of the ABC amounting to P92,239,200 for Lot 1 and P45,611,760 for Lot 2, or a difference of P49,838,400 for Lot 1 and P3,210,960 for Lot 2,” the letter read.