Aircon deal devoid of any anomaly?

The supposed delivery of 18 air-conditioning units for use of the Bohol Cultural Center was the object of speculation the past week that it was tainted with irregularity had it not been “nipped in the bud.”

Two personalities, Engr. Edwin Vallejos , chief of the General Services Office and Engr. Prex Tumabang of Sammy's Airconditioning and Refrigeration were caught in the eye of the storm after being suspected of having planned to rig the bidding in behalf of a favored supplier. Both denied the insinuations. No bidding was ever been conducted except the labor component of the deal.

For his part, Engr. Vallejos clarified that what characterized the supposed delivery of aircon units was that it was done in good faith and it was not meant to defraud the provincial government of its precious resources. Engr. Tumabang whose outfit was suspected of being the favored supplier emphasized that the aircon deal was a negotiated transaction was unfair, unfounded, inaccurate and a sweeping conclusion The full details of Engr. Tumabang's explanation are found elsewhere in this issue.

But all these perorations that there was no wrongdoing in the planned purchase of aircon units are apparently “water under the bridge” after the Bids and Awards Committee decided to forego the bidding procedure. The bids body decided to make a direct canvass for aircon prices in Manila .

According to lawyer Handel Lagunay, chair of the bids committee, the new tact adopted in the aircon transaction was in compliance to the wishes of Gov. Erico Aumentado that they better resort to a direct canvass rather than engage in an open and competitive bidding. Lagunay said the province will save about P500T if his committee will buy the units from Manila distributors. The approved agency estimate of the transaction was P3.748M.

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