"Good thing it was foiled."
"Good thing it was foiled."
In line with the demands of the new normal, the Quezon City Government has been preparing for the introduction of the blended system of learning for basic education. This is to ensure that the education of the youth is not disrupted even as we continue to protect them from the dreaded coronavirus.
Obviously, the P2.9-billion peso contract for QC’s Blended Learning Program is a coveted prize for potential suppliers. According to the local government, the budget will be used to provide tablets for the city’s thousands of junior and senior high school students.
Sources have revealed, however, that an eager company tried to sway the bid in its favor by allegedly offering Mayor Joy Belmonte a large “bonus and facilitation fee” if she could find a surefire way to sway the contract.
My gulay, it’s amazing how shameless these racketeers are!
But here’s the thing: former Speaker of the House of Representatives and QC Mayor Sonny Belmonte’s only daughter has a sheer and passionate hatred for corruption.
Apart from her hand-on management style, she is well-known among local government executives as someone who has a zero-tolerance policy on graft and corruption. Mayor Joy has made absolutely sure that there will be no joy for those who try to bribe or coerce their way into the favor of the QC City Hall.
Indeed, ever since her time as QC Vice Mayor, the word among racketeers was that “it’s easier to bribe a priest than to bribe Joy Belmonte.” Needless to say Santa Banana, the bribe attempt and the one attempting it were firmly rebuked.
The Quezon City Government went on to release bid requirements that were in full compliance with with DepEd directives and the Bureau of Local Government Finance guidelines, effectively disqualifying the supplier from bidding. Santa Banana, talk about a double black eye!
Perhaps because misery loves company, the angry backhander, supposedly aligned with one of Joy Belmonte’s political rivals, launched a malicious media campaign against the bidding. Part of this was to make unfounded allegations and the details about the process itself.
Unfortunately for them, all their invented accusations were easily proven to be false, because the records were publicly available.
While there is a saying that “if you shout somewhat loudly enough, someone will believe you,” at the very least, you have to make sure that what you are shouting makes sense logically. In this case, claims about a favored bidder, overpricing, and other conspiracy theories were all shown to be patently absurd.
Last Saturday, there was a report that the Quezon City government had already awarded the contract for the supply and delivery of tablets to support distance learning for public schools students in the city. Well and good.
Local contractor, Trireal Enterprises bagged the contract and will provide 176,000 Samsung tablets worth P1.2 billion to Grade 7 to 12 public schools students for their online learning.
Mayor Joy Belmonte said that Trireal Enterprises with its joint venture partner Radenta Technologies Inc. was selected after going through the proper bidding process. She also expressed appreciation to Samsung for lowering the price of its Galaxy Tablets from the original P7,990 per unit to P6,950.
Clearly, Sonny Belmonte and his late wife Betty Go raised their children well. And I’m not saying this just because Sonny is a very good friend and my wife was a sorority sister of Sonny’s late wife at the University of the Philippines.
I know the Belmontes very well. To Joy, my congratulations. You have my admiration and respect for your integrity.
**
China continues to bully Filipino fishermen and even Philippine patrol boats in the disputed West Philippine Sea.
According to President Duterte, China is our very good friend, just like how its president, Xi Jinping, is his good friend. But we need such friends like a hole in the head.
Now comes the United States government listing no less than 24 state-owned Chinese companies for their participation in the militarization of shoals and islands in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. China insists it has sovereignty over the disputed territory, in accordance with the so-called nine-dash line. This was what the Philippines raised before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Foreign Secretary Teddyboy Locsin said that if the Philippines had contracts with any of the firms listed by the US, he would strongly recommend their termination. I sympathize with Locsin, but doing this could create a problem too. That would be in violation of contractual agreements and obligations.
In fact, the development of the first phase of Sangley Point in Cavite is being financed by one of those blacklisted Chinese firms – the consortium of state-run CCCC (China Communications Construction Co.) which reportedly allows it to block experts of its goods to China. The CCCC is in a joint venture with Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp.; the project is aimed at decongesting Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
If the Sangley Point airport project pushes through with the blessing of Duterte, what will happen to contracts with other Chinese firms already blacklisted by the United States? Can the sauce for the gander also be a sauce for the goose?
This problem invites a lot of things. Duterte should not be in a rush in welcoming state-owned Chinese firms, especially if they are blacklisted by the US.
**
One of the many charges raised against the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN radio and television network was its use of a dummy television channel, Channel 43, to air programs, movies, teleseryes. This is not allowed.
The National Telecommunications Commission later found that Channel 43 was using the tower of ABS-CBN to show those programs. Some congressmen said this amounted to fraud and violation of the anti-dummy law.
I wonder why the NTC did not file cases against these bright boys of the Lopez network for these violations.
