Source: GMA News
HEIDI MENDOZA
A commissioner from the Commission on Audit has tagged the wife of Vice President Jejomar Binay in alleged irregularities in the bidding for a P72-million government supply contract more than a decade ago.
Testifying before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Wednesday, Commissioner Heidi Mendoza said her audit team noticed indications of possible rigging of the bidding that was done in 2001 when Elenita Binay was still mayor of Makati City.
Binay’s camp, on the other hand, denied the accusation and accused Mendoza of “using this case to project herself, considering that she has yet to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.”
“This selfish motive is at Dra. Binay’s expense,” it said, adding that Mendoza has a “history of animosity” against the Binays.
Same address
In her testimony, Mendoza said they found out that two of the bidders — Office Gallery International Inc. and MFE International — shared the same office address in Taguig City.
“During audit, we visited the warehouse and offices of [Office] Gallery International and it was [at] the same address as MFE,” she told the court’s fifth division, which is hearing the graft complaint against Mrs. Binay, city councilor Salvador Pangilinan, former city administrator Nicanor Santiago Jr., then city treasurer Ernesto Aspillaga, and businesswoman Bernadette Aquino.
Mendoza said they also found out that Aquino, supposedly the representative for one of the bidders, Asia Concept, received the purchase order for Office Gallery International Inc.
“Basically the findings were about rigged bidding,” she said.
The defense team attempted to have this part of Mendoza’s testimony stricken off the record, saying MFE was not included in the case. They were overruled, however, after Prosecution Bureau Director Omar Sagadal said this portion of the testimony showed a “pattern of collusion.”
Similar bids
In her testimony, Mendoza also said there were similarities in the proposals of the three bidders.
“In our report, we observed that bidders were able to offer similar specifications. They quoted the similar numbers [of fixtures], same types and similar specifications. We wondered how it was possible without any information. Without such information, the bidding should not have proceeded,” she said.
Sagadal marked as evidence documents supposedly bearing the signatures of Mrs. Binay, Aspillaga, Santiago, and Pangilinan.
Aside from this, Mendoza also pointed out that the notice for public bidding was only published in the local newspaper Metro Profile, which she said has a very small circulation. The COA and the Local Government Code require that bidding announcements be made in newspapers with national circulation.
Mendoza added that the purchase order was issued to Office Gallery a day after the bidding was terminated on Aug 16, 2000.
“It is significant because according to regular practice, the bidding should have been until the end of August 16, to allow other competitors to submit. But the bid envelopes were opened at 2 p.m. of the same day. Under the rules, you have to wait until the end of the day …then you have to conduct a pre-qualification process,” she said.
Personal animosity
Defense lawyers are set to cross-examine Mendoza on Nov. 7, and the camp of Mrs. Binay said they are “looking forward” to it.
In their statement, Binay’s camp said Mendoza’s “personal animosity” toward the Binays “could be because the Sandiganbayan dismissed a previous case against Dra. Binay on the basis of the findings of Ms. Mendoza.
It said the Sandiganbayan had found out that “Ms. Mendoza erred in her findings of alleged overpricing because she used a flawed methodology. The case had no factual basis.”
The statement said since then, Mendoza has shown “obsessive interest” in the Binays and in Makati, specifically in the programs implemented by the vice president when he was still Makati mayor.
“Commissioner Mendoza has been very vocal about her dislike for the Vice President, particularly, even before her designation as Commissioner. Her dislike has escalated since then to such an extent that she is apparently using the resources of COA to pursue her own agenda,” it said.
“We hope Ms. Mendoza does not drag down with her the image of COA,” it added.
The Office of the Vice President was referring to the audit of the Makati Friendship Suites, one of Binay’s projects when he was still Makati mayor, which is supposedly being investigated by Mendoza.
“The city government was cleared by COA and no charges were filed against us on this issue,” it said. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News
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