Monico, Bacolod execs rapped over tourist bus
BACOLOD City –
A complaint was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas against former mayor Monico Puentevella and three employees over the allegedly irregular purchase of the city government’s tourist bus.
The engine of the P3.9-million tourist bus was secondhand, not brand-new, contrary to what the city government claimed when it bought the vehicle in 2015, complainant Samuel Montoyo said.
Aside from Puentevella, named respondents were General Services Office head Jerome Solinap and Assistant City Engineer Josephus Cerna, former Bids and Awards (BAC) Committee members; and maintenance foreman Harry James Magbanua.
Montoyo accused them of violating Section 3 of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and “any crime or offense which the Ombudsman may find appropriate.”
The Ombudsman received the complaint on June 6.
Sought for comment, Puentevella told Panay News in a text message: “My reply? Sweep na ni ang Warriors … Hehe! Another bombshell on Monday, I heard. Haha!”
Solinap said he cannot comment yet because he has not yet received a copy of the complaint.
This paper was still trying to reach the other respondents for comment as of press time.
Sometime in February 2015, when Puentevella was mayor, his office sent to the BAC a purchase request for a 61-seater motor vehicle (bus).
A bidding was conducted in May that year, and Nikka Trading — the lone bidder — won as supplier, Montoyo said in his complaint-affidavit.
When the supplier delivered the bus on Jan. 27, 2016, the late Pedro Galvan “inspected” it while Solinap “accepted” it, Montoyo said.
The bus was turned over to Magbanua, who certified that the engine was “brand-new” and compliant with specifications in the purchase order. On March 9, 2016, Cerna certified that the unit was “in good condition.”
On Feb. 23, 2016, the city government paid the supplier P3,988,800.80.
The Acceptance and Inspection Report and Acknowledgement Receipt for Equipment and the certification by the BAC Technical Working Committee indicated that the bus engine (No. L32YAD00034) was brand-new, said Montoyo.
But a certification from the Land Transportation Office dated Aug. 31, 2016 showed that Engine No. L32YAD00034 was a 1994 model, which means it was “not brand-new after all,” as opposed to what the respondents claimed, the complainant said.
Moreover, the bus was insured with the Government Service Insurance System, and Solinap explicitly disclosed in the application form that the vehicle was a “secondhand unit,” Montoyo claimed.
As “clearly and distinctly indicated in the purchase order and the disbursement voucher,” the city government was paying for a vehicle with a brand-new engine, he added./PN