GSIS fires senior exec for 'anomalous' IBM contract

Officials of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) have dismissed its senior vice president for information technology services, citing “dishonesty" and “conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service." Edilberto P. Ocampo was sacked after the GSIS’ Board of Trustees (BOT) found him “liable for entering into multi-million peso contracts with IBM without authority and into anomalous contracts with Questronix," the agency said in a statement. During the investigation of two anomalous contracts, Ocampo left his post and went into hiding in the United States, the statement added. Ocampo, whose current whereabouts remain unknown, left the country last January 17, 2009 onboard Philippine Airlines flight 104, the statement said, citing the agency’s check with the Bureau of Immigration. Ocampo signed a June 2008 agreement that required GSIS to pay P4.9 million monthly to IBM for the supply OS/390 software licenses for the agency’s mainframe computer from April 1 to June 30 of the same year. This allegation was contained in GSIS’ administrative case no. 09-001. Ocampo and IBM entered into this agreement without authority, violating provisions of Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Act, the agency said. Moreover, in September 2008, the contract was extended to cover the periods of July to December last year. The contract extension violated the same provisions of the Government Procurement Act. “Ocampo did not possess the authority to enter into said agreements which also did not pass through the required procurement process," the GSIS said. The GSIS also said the Ocampo-IBM agreement did not contain a confirmation by the GSIS Bids and Awards Committee that funds were included in the Annual Procurement Plan for 2008. However, in a separate emailed statement, IBM denied the allegation, saying that the company has “always carried on its business with its clients, including GSIS, with the highest standards of business integrity." “The matters pointed out by GSIS in its latest press release in relation to IBM are presently under litigation. The court has not issued any ruling on the dispute," the company said. In May, the state-run pension fund has blamed IBM for what it claimed as “defective" software, delaying transactions of 20,000 GSIS members for two months. Read the earlier report here In Administrative Case No. 09-002, the GSIS said Ocampo, then project manager of its Executive Information System (EIS) entered into a contract with Questronix Corp., in a joint venture with SAS Institute (Philippines), Inc., for the acquisition and implementation of the EIS. The EIS is a data information management system that provides GSIS executives with real time data about key GSIS transactions. The GSIS said the contract Ocampo entered into went below the requirements of the project’s terms. Instead of a perpetual license, the contract between Ocampo and Questronix required the annual renewal of software license for a fee. Besides his dismissal, Mr. Ocampo’s eligibility for retirement benefits has been forfeited. He was also disqualified from re-employment in government service. - GMANews.TV