Firm vows to block poll chairman's confirmation

MANILA, Philippines - Losing bidder Advance Paper Corporation (APC) has threatened to block the confirmation of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo from the Commission on Appointments due to irregularities in the awarding of the contract for the supply of accountable forms. In a statement released Wednesday, APC expressed disbelief in the junking of their bids during the opening of the bid documents last March 24. The company said their offer, P26 million, was the lowest compared to the three other winning bidders that offered high prices. According to the APC, it is also obvious that the Bid and Awards Committee (BAC) headed by lawyer Jose M. Tolentino Jr had made up their mind before the opening of the envelopes. “What is even more confusing is the discovery that another company bided lower than the three winners," APC said in its statement. On March 26, 2008, the BAC issued a Memorandum on the roster of winners and was approved by the Comelec en banc. The next day, BAC awarded the five items being bidded to three winners, but excluding the lowest offer, APC claimed. “The next day, April 28, in an unusual haste, the Notice of Award without a date of issuance was distributed to the winners," the firm added. The losing bidder likewise expressed amazement with the first delivery of the items was done the following day, a Saturday, even if the galley proofs of the items had yet to be encoded, edited, and approved. APC said this raised a question whether the items had, in fact, already been prepared before the opening of the sealed bids. APC also revealed that a day before the pre-qualification bid, one of the eventual winners in the bidding invited the 16 other bidders for a dinner in Emerald Restaurant in Malate last Mach 14 and offered a bribe ranging from P50,000 to P200,000 in exchange for their withdrawal. Last March 30, APC filed a motion for reconsideration with the Comelec en banc after the BAC disqualified them on the grounds of misrepresentation. But in an earlier interview with Tolentino, he said that when they reviewed the eligibility documents submitted by APC, it was clear that one of the major shareholders of the company is also a major stockholders in Advance Computer, which was blacklisted by the commission during the May 2004 elections for submitting falsified documents. “We found out that a stockholder of Advance Paper holds 42 percent share with Advance Computer Forms, which was blacklisted by the Comelec. It’s clear that they should be disqualified," he said. He added that Advance Computer had been suspended by the Comelec from participating in all the bidding of the Commission. “And after they were disqualified, they went to the media. It tended to influence the decision of the BAC. That’s another ground for suspension. We never made up anything, it’s all in the law," Tolentino said. Tolentino said when they returned to Advance Paper their unopened envelope containing the financial bid, the company said that the stockholders in question is no longer part of Advance Paper and they have documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would prove their claims. “Advance Paper said they have SEC paper on general information sheet showing that the being questioned stockholders was no longer connected with Advance Paper so we decided to give them a chance to show to us the SEC document," he said. - GMANews.TV