E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
At the Senate; miscellany
Sunday, 12 22, 2002
Congress has passed the New Procurement Law. Sen. Ed Angara should be congratulated for this, as he successfully shepherded this law through the bicameral conference committee in record time.
The law addresses the lack of competition and transparency in the procurement process. The present practice of issuing Invitations to Bid through the print media is open to manipulation. Not a few of us are strangers to stories about cartels of contractors buying all printed copies of newspapers to prevent circulation of the bidding announcement. This effectively limits competition among themselves, in which case they could dictate the terms of the contract, either as a consortium or as subcontractors to the predetermined winner of the bid. To level the paying field, the law provides that bidding announcements are, in addition to the publication, to be posted on the Web site of the concerned agency as well as on the government electronic procurement Web site system. To ensure transparency and pinpoint accountability, optimum use of information technology will be harnessed to include application of an electronic system of auditing all bidding transactions.
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The “clown” of the Senate got his wish: The hearing which he derisively described as the “circus at the Senate” did not push through last Monday. Those opposed to the appearance of President Joseph Estrada, and those who expected to be exposed for what they gained in facilitating the Impsa deal, may have been successful with their adept maneuverings to prevent the hearing. But they only delayed the inevitable. Come Jan. 14, 2003, the “clown” and the ringleaders of the US$14 million bribe will surely weep with the revelations.
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The conferees of both the House of Representatives and the Senate on the Absentee Voting Law have already managed to reconcile 26 out of 29 disagreeing provisions of the two versions of the bill, before Congress adjourned for the holidays. Senator Angara and Congressman Lozada, who head their respective panel of conferees, assured the overseas absentee voters the law will come into effect not later than the end of January 2003.
The appointment of a special envoy to the OFWs while the bicameral conference was going on was a blessing in disguise. The conferees have come up precisely with the antidote to this big advantage Malacañang enjoys.
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A clear sign that the government is bankrupt is the continued failure of the Department of Budget and Management to address the plight of 1,300 employees of the LRTA separated from the service in 1999. Despite the budgetary allocation for them in the amount of P271 million under the 2002 GAA, the employees have yet to receive a centavo. They are being given all excuses, despite their undisputed entitlement to separation benefits. Worse, the DoLE, DBM and DoTC are blaming each other as to who is responsible for these employees. Senate Resolution No. 494 addresses this problem and, hopefully, the LRTA employees will finally receive their long-delayed benefits.
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This is an urgent call to DepEd Secretary De Jesus, regarding the sad case of schoolteacher Lucenia Nailes of the Camp Crame Elementary School. She retired in January 2002, after 40 years of teaching, her last monthly compensation a measly P12,000. To date, she has yet to receive her retirement benefits. Another case of “no money.” How many more teachers like Nailes have the same fate?
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Before the Senate adjourned last Wednesday, Angara stood for almost two hours in plenary debates batting for the adoption of his formula to increase the compensation of judges by way of a generous special allowance scheme equivalent to 100 percent of their basic monthly salary, which is tax-exempt, and which shall count for purposes of retirement. This scheme, which does not run afoul with the Salary Standardization Law, is expected by the judges to be adopted when the Senate resumes sessions in January.
A regional trial court judge will receive a total monthly compensation of P78,499 under the Angara formula. In addition, the judge will continue to receive benefits due him from his host local government and those sourced out of the Judiciary Development Fund. My classmate, Judge Pol Bruselas of Quezon City, who continues to hold dear his idealism, will most certainly be enticed to stay on.
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The case against Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Apolinario Exevea got prominent coverage in the major dailies last week. Exevea was accused before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly accepting a bribe in consideration for the dismissal of a case subject of a petition for review before him. The news, obviously coming from one source, betrayed itself as not believable at all. It is simply absurd to claim that one had received bribe money when in fact the resolution of the petition for review is not in accordance with the purpose for which the alleged bribe was given.
DoJ sources believe in the innocence of Exevea, a career official for almost 25 years who, despite being in a powerful position, lives quietly and simply in Lagro, without a single case filed against him, except the present one. They say he was just probably the victim of politics between the DoJ and the Office of the Ombudsman before Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo took over. A reinvestigation is in order.
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The occupant of Malacañang at present is blaming media for her plummeting acceptability. This is a worrisome sign on how she will treat media just to up her ratings – as an adversary that ought to be silenced after all the courting failed. She is getting both bad and tough media coverage. Her own lack of substance at governing gives her bad coverage; and, her absolute lack of candor on the many issues and scandals besetting her administration make the media doubly hard and tough on her.
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Merry Christmas to everyone, most especially to MaMa, KaKa, TinTin, GoGo and MikMik, the jewels of my life.
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