A congressional leader has called on top finance officials to immediately step in and stop the implementation of an alleged rigged bidding of the P4-billion supply contract for the Philippine identification card project.
Deputy Speaker Prospero A. Pichay, Jr., one of the principal authors of the national ID law, in particular called on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno and Finance Secretary Dominguez to halt the implementation of the alleged questionable P 4-billion national ID project bidding.
At the same time, Pichay said he will file a resolution to dig deeper into the matter. “A congressional probe should be commenced as soon as possible to bring to light these anomalous practices that had long plagued the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas long before the stint of Gov. Diokno and expose certain unscrupulous parties from within and outside of the BSP.“
“I am totally confident that BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, leaders of proven integrity and two of the vanguards of the Duterte government against corruption and malfeasance in government will not allow this rotten bid from prospering at all,” Pichay added.
Pichay said after all participating bidders had submitted their eligibility requirements, the BSP bids and awards committee imposed a controversial and questionable additional provision that virtually wiped out participating bidders to the P4-billion ID card project save for ‘two complying bidders.’
“However, one of the two surviving bidders copped out. This strange event virtually handed over the lucrative P4-Billion contract to the lone surviving bidder,” Pichay said.
Pichay said “evidently this is why a rigged contract is called ‘Lutong Macao’ as the chain of events depict a scripted machination carried out on cue with one of two surviving bidders opting out to conveniently hand over the P4-Billion contract to the only remaining eligible, complying” bidder.”
This scheme will result in massive loss of hundreds of millions of badly needed funds by the government in the fight against COVID 19.“ Pichay said.
“Lutong Macao” is a tired, worn out dirty trick used by unscrupulous. greedy bidders a long time ago which can only be carried out with the help conspirators in government to successfully rig and illegally win biddings of lucrative government projects,” Pichay explained.
“Pichay said there is no need for elaborate legal arguments and debating issues of public bidding law to expose the vile conspiracy of the BSP bids and awards committee in rigging the P4-Billion Philippine ID Card Project to favor one bidder.“
“The blatant violations of the implementing rules of Republic Act 9184 suffice to thwart the despicable and execrable machinations of the ‘conspirators that enabled a favored lone complying bidder to survive the bid process after the additional provision imposed by the BSP bids and awards committee simply purged and eviscerated other participating bidders.”