Unknown to many, there was a series of backdoor negotiations between Gov. Erico Aumentado and lawyer Victor de la Serna regarding the purchase of a hydraulic excavator or backhoe by the provincial government. Acting on tips from his usual reliable sources, de la Serna went to town to denounce the backhoe buy as grossly overpriced. The topnotch lawyer estimated that from P2.4M as minimum to P2.8M as maximum was the overprice amount after the Capitol paid P 9.7 M to the back hoe with excavator. His estimate of the backhoe price in the open market (Volvo brand) was only P6.5 M. The supplier was Civic Merchandizing after it won the bidding procedure reportedly fair and square. But de la Serna was not convinced. By citing the alleged overprice, De la Serna insinuated that the bidding was rigged to favor a predetermined supplier. Capitol did not take de la Serna's perorations sitting down.

To stave off a potential scandal, Gov. Aumentado revamped the Bids and Awards Committee and the General Services Office. The main casualty of the revamp was Engr Edwin Vallejos who was transferred as GSO head. He was subsequently reassigned as the provincial engineer while Engr. Rosalinda Yu took over the GSO helm. There was a considerable lull in the media after the rigodon in the two provincial offices. But the back hoe noise in the media just refused to die down just easily.

Thinking that he has the goods to pin down whoever was responsible in clinching the deal, de la Serna kept on harping over the airlanes that the only way that he would be satisfied given the back hoe transaction was for those responsible to return the overprice amount. He was asking for a 50% settlement of the overprice amount to be returned. With their backs against the wall, Gov. Aumentado acceded to de la Serna's insistent demand. After a series of secret meetings, the two came up with a win-win solution.

To save face on the part of the provincial government, this Bglante learned that the alleged overprice amount will be returned thru Civic Merchandizing and not from any Capitol functionary. Against this backdrop, we are expecting that somehow something dramatic will happen anytime this week. The arrangement was for Civic to buy P1.2 M worth of medicines and truckloads of rice to be distributed to indigents thru the Department of Social Services. Speaking of irregularity in the purchase of the hydraulic excavator, well, it started well, and ended well. Everybody happy? Your guess is as good as mine.