BAC HEAD DENIES RAP: Defensor, others sued for forgery

FORMER Provincial Administrator Manuel “Boy” Mejorada filed a criminal complaint for estafa through falsification of public documents against Governor Arthur Defensor Sr., landscape architect Paulo Alcazaren and top Capitol officials over the alleged forgery in the bidding documents for a P1.5-million design contract.

In a five-page letter to Atty. Max Salvador, regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Mejorada said Defensor and top Capitol officials aided Alcazaren in getting the contract for the master plan for the landscaping and park development project by making it to appear that he was the lone bidder when he did not participate in the procurement.

Mejorada officially filed the complaint with the NBI regional office at Fort San Pedro Drive, Iloilo City on Nov 26, 2018.

According to Mejorada, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chaired by Atty. Dennis Ventilacion made it appear that Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc. was the winning bidder as published on the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) website and then falsified the BAC resolution to award it to PGAA owned by Paulo G. Alcazaren.

The BAC Resolution no. 33-L dated April 28, 2017 presented by Mejorada before the NBI clearly showed erasures with the use of white correction fluid with an unidentifiable signature that indicate a “criminal intent” to hide the supposed participation of Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc.

On the second page, the portion of the resolution recommending the award of the contract to the “highest rated responsive bidder” was erased with white correction fluid, and the name “PGAA Creative Design” was handwritten on the blank space.

“This is forgery,” he claimed.

“Makita mo diri ang awardee is Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc. nga ang ila contact person si Belen Nepomuceno Gacad. Nasuliganon ko siGacad, wala siya ‘ya kabalo. May naggamit lang ‘ya sang ngalan sang Ascott agud to nagpasakop sa bidding,” he added.

The respondents of the complaint were Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr., Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, Atty. Dennis Ventilacion and Architect Paulo Gonzalez Alcazaren, Mejorada said.

WHAT FORGERY?

On the other hand, Atty. Ventilacion denied the falsification of bidding documents for landscape design contract.

Ventilacion said that the erasures on the BAC Resolution No. 33-L were done to omit the name of Architect Paulo Gonzalez Alcazaren, proprietor of PGAA Creative Design.

“Ang gin-erase actually didto ang pangalan ni Architect Paulo Alcazaren kay ang nabutang didto is Architect Paulo Gonzalez Alcazaren, PGAA Creative Design. So gin-erase na ang ngalan ni Architect Alcazaren kay redundant na pero wala na ina issue kay actually single proprietorship siya mung,” he said.

The initials that appeared four times on the BAC resolution were written by former BAC secretariat head, Ventilacion said.

Ventilacion said that the PGAA Creative Design was the sole bidder for the landscape, based on the record of BAC.

The Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc. viewed the bidding thus it appeared on the PhilGEPS posting.

“Kung mag-view ka, gamiton mo ang imo membership number. May access number ka na mung, tanan nga member sang PhilGEPS, including Ascott, may number na sila, access number so kun mag-access didto, ang system naga-record sang ila nga transaction nga nagview sila,” he said.

Ventilacion emphasized that Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc., which Mejorada claimed as the supposed winning bidder, did not participate in the bidding process as indicated in the minutes for opening of bids.

“I do not know where he (Mejorada) got the information that Ascott Pacific Consultants participated and won the bidding. Nowhere in the documents can we find the name of Ascott,” he said.

Ventilacion added that Mejorada’s allegation that the BAC falsified BAC Resolution No. 33-L 2017 “to award it to PGAA owned by Paulo G. Alcazaren” was absurd and just a product of his imagination.

Ventilacion clarified that the erasure in BAC resolution no. 33-L 2017 only deleted the phrase “Paulo Alcazaren, Managing Officer” to eliminate redundancy and not to “hide the supposed participation of Ascott” as claimed by Mejorada.

On the issue that PGAA Creative Design has no PhilGEPS registration, Ventilacion said that PGAA Creative Design could not have participated in the bidding if they were not qualified.

Mejorada also claimed that the conduct of the bidding for the consultancy and design was just a formality to eventually award the contract to Alcazaren’s firm since one year prior to the project’s implementation Gov. Defensor and Alcazaren already met to talk about the landscaping project.

Ventilacion rebutted that it is normal for contractors or suppliers to have a product presentation or demonstration ahead of the bidding since it is part of their marketing strategies.

“The supplier or contractor merely makes a proposal, but it does not mean that they will get the contract. It will still be subject to the procurement process,” Ventilacion stressed, adding “Gov. Defensor does not even dip his hands or dictate on us (BAC) when it comes to the bidding of projects.”

He cited certain suppliers who make product presentations but eventually did not participate in the bidding because they were not qualified due to lack of license or certification.

There are also suppliers who present their products but lost in the bidding process, Ventilacion stressed.

Mejorada noted that Ventilacion did not say why the name of Ascott Pacific Consultants Inc. also appeared on the “Awards Notice Abstract” as the awardee of the contract as being the lowest complying and responsive bidder.

Mejorada said Ventilacion told a “big lie”.

The system reports every transaction for every procurement, and this includes the entities or individuals that buy the bid documents that would entitle them to participate in the bidding, Mejorada said.

“Atty. Ventilacion’s claim that the system lists down the names of entities that open the page is a brazen lie,” he said.

“How can Atty. Ventilacion explain the award notice appearing on the PhilGEPS that put the name of Ascott Pacific as the winning bidder?” he asked.

This forgery also became glaring because Ascott Pacific managing director Belen Gacad denied that the company had any participation in the procurement for the contract, he said.

Mejorada asked the NBI to conduct forensics examination on BAC Resolution No. 33-L to determine what was written under the altered portions of the document.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

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