CHED stops paying contractor of P550-M call center

Sun.Star: The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) said there will be no more release of payment to the winning bidder of the P550-million Integrated Multi-Site Business Process Outsourcing-Incubation Contact Center (IMBPO-ICC) project unless ordered by the Commission on Audit (COA). “The Ched en banc has asked the COA to review the result of the investigation to notify us soon if there is a need to continue the payments or not. We will not pay until the audit body instructs us to do so," Ched commissioner Nona Ricafort said. Ricafort said the decision was arrived in an en banc meeting last Monday presided by acting Ched chairman Romulo Neri following conclusions of an investigating team tasked by Neri himself to look into the alleged irregularities in the bidding process of the IMBPO-ICC call center project. According to her, Neri pointed out that he will not sign anymore the release of check to the consortium led by E-Services Global Solutions (ESGS), Drishti Philippines Inc. (DPI), Information Transmission Computer Control Inc. (ITCC) and Hillmarc’s Construction Corp. while there are still unsolved issues of irregularity surrounding the project. “Chairman Neri explained to the collegial body that it will backfire on him. The chairman cannot just sign or release the checks. He has to agree and believe that the project is clean. Otherwise if he signs, he would be charged at the Office of the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan," Ricafort said. Ricafort raised several issues not only in the aspect of the bidding process but also the sudden change of project concept and irregular disbursements of check releases now amounting to more than P75 million. “What we are doing is for their good (ESGS) and ours too. It is for their good, because if the report has been reviewed by COA nobody can question it anymore. It is for our good as well because we will have peace of mind. We will heed COA’s advice if there is a need to release the payments," she explained. She said the winning bidder, ESGS, has been notified through a letter that the Ched has arrived at such agreement to let COA evaluate the reports and decide whether to cancel the suspension of the funds or not. “We are asking for patience from E-Global. We have actually requested COA to urgently give us their recommendations," she said. Normally, a COA’s response could possibly take two weeks to one month. E-Global, however, said they have yet to receive the Ched letter. “We don’t have a copy of the letter. Right now we’re continuing on doing training," said Edgar Bensale, authorized representative of E-Global. Bensale said if COA has to conduct an investigation, it has to release the payments first. “I don’t see any legal basis why they won’t pay us. They’ve given us the initial payment, why can’t they pay us this time. We cannot wait for their findings," he said. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has initially released to Ched P300 million to start the project. The remaining P250 million is also in the pipeline. The budget was requested by Ched during the watch of former chairman Carlito Puno, now head of a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC). It was approved by Neri during his watch as DBM secretary. - Sun.Star