No backhoe overprice, Guv assures

KEEPING his cool under fire, Gov. Erico Aumentado the other day, disabused the minds of critics that there was something irregular in the Capitol's purchase of a hydraulic excavator or backhoe. Filling in for the defense during The Governor Reports, Gov. Aumentado said Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) review chaired by Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay showed that the unit which Capitol bought was superior to Komatsu's PC 200LC-7A or Caterpillar's 320C.

Based on a BAC submitted matrix, Aumentado said the Volvo EC210BLC (Samsung) distributed by Civic Merchandising comes with a hydraulic breaker made and assembled in Korea . With the hydraulic breaker, the unit costs P9,410,560 inclusive of shipment, transportation expenses and marine insurance. Caterpillar's equivalent, offered by Monark Equipment costs between P9M to P10M. A separate hydraulic breaker, made and assembled in Japan using US technology costs an additional P1.5 million, adds the top provincial official. Although both had the same 143 engine horsepower, Volvo is bigger and heavier – and therefore is more stable, he said. It also has a bigger bucket capacity, more bottom track rollers and longer track length, longer digging reach and depth and higher dumping height, he explained. A Japan or Thailand assembled Komatsu by Maxima Philippines, costs P9 million or more, breaker not included, he added.

Governor Aumentado stood up in defense after no less than a top caliber lawyer and former governor who knows government deals like the back of his hand blew the whistle against the Capitol on the deal. Lawyer and anti-graft crusader Victor de la Serna, in a memorandum for Governor Erico Aumentado pointed that Capitol debited from its Philippine National Bank account the sum of 9,723,993.15 last July 12. This came after a rigodon at the Provincial Bids and Awards Committee failed to throw off the bloodhounds snooping into Capitol's latest deals. Fresh from allegations of irregularity in an aircon deal for the Bohol Cultural Center, Capitol spin-doctors have been evidently double plugging the leaks in what is believed to be damage control for another potentially damaging P2.4M back hoe overprice as alleged by de la Serna.

Philippine National Bank accounts officer Panfilo Fatulan Jr. certified on August 16 that Capitol debited from its PNB account some P9723, 998.15. The amount consisting of cost of equipment at P9.6M+, P39T+ Letter of Credit (LC) opening charges and negotiation charges at P35T, for a brand new Volvo hydraulic excavator with breaker. De la Serna said that instead of the Volvo, if Bohol bought a brand new Komatsu PCL200LC-7A with hydraulic excavator and F19 Furukawa Hydraulic breaker, the purchase price should only be P7.5M. This sums up to what the bar-top notcher said as an overprice of P2.4M.

Citing papers obtained from Civic Merchandising, de la Serna cited Volvo model only fetching P6.2M. This was a for a Manila delivery, says machine sales Engr. Patric Calaque. In a separate document furnished by Maxima Equipment Company, distributors of Komatsu, their excavator costs P6.3M while a hydraulic breaker fetches another P1.2M, said Louie Sarsaba, Maxima sales engineer. Capitol said De la Serna earlier mentioned that “Inabanga” and “a private contractor” had bought backhoes but not at the price the province paid for. Both Inabanga Mayor Josephine Socorro Jumamoy and Engr. Manuelito Varquez, proprietor of Al Chris Construction issued certifications August 1 and July 18 denying their knowledge of de la Serna's claims.

In a statement sent to the Post, Capitol said the approved budget for the contract (ABC) was based on Provincial Ordinance No. 2005-022 dated Dec. 12, 2005. It was for P9,493,469. However, the province shelled out P9,723,998.15, the extra amount paid for opening its letter of credit (LC) as certified by Futalan. BAC through Lagunay clarified that the LC opening and negotiation charges did not go to Civic – nor Monark or Maxima even if they had won the bidding. These are bank charges and should not be counted as part of the cost of the equipment. The province would still pay for these charges had either Monark or Maxima won the bidding, he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Capitol said Civic Merchandising deposited on July 17 to the province's account P82,909.00. This represented savings on procurement on the part of the province as the peso was stronger at P51.20 to the dollar on April 4 – the date of opening of the bids. This means the equivalent of the $183,800 was only P9,410,560. Fatulan however certified that Civic deposited on the same date P238,940 for Bohol. Capitol also denied receiving a copy of the dela Serna memo, but a machine copy the same documents furnished to the said the Office of the Governor has a received date August 17, a day before the Governor Reports. On de la Serna's memo, Capitol pointed out that the blackened names on and addressees of the quotation de la Serna obtained may raise doubts. Engr. Abraham Clarin, Provincial Motor Pool head, who went to Civic Cebu Friday to verify the document was quick to point out that while the de la Serna quotation was for the same Volvo model, it was not fitted with a hydraulic breaker but a piping kit.

It too had a smaller bucket capacity, had only a seal type airconditioned cab and will be delivered to Manila only. The province-procured Volvo has an air-conditioned cab with roll-over protection system (ROPS), for delivery to Tagbilaran City. This makes up for the insurance and transportation expenses. With the ROPS, a heavy equipment operator is protected from accidental roll over of equipment in rigged terrain, Clarin quoted the Civic Cebu manager as saying. Lagunay added that as it is being sold to a local government unit, margin of profit and cost of money are allowed under government auditing rules.

Since the buyer of the de la Serna Volvo is unknown, government audit rules do not apply, he said. The legal officer also said since the de la Serna Volvo is “FOB Manila ”, it does not include additional transportation costs and therefore cheaper. Even with Clarin's and Lagunay's explanation however Aumentado nonetheless yesterday indorsed the de la Serna documents to the provincial legal officer with the instruction that he examine the possibility of canceling the purchase “even at this late hour of the day” and recommend an alternative. Despite all of these rebuttals, de la Serna said he is standing pat on his documents. This as the backhoe is now in transit to Bohol .

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