BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – For Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr., Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon had nothing to influence the bidding process that led to the awarding of the oil spill cleanup contract to Kuan Yu Global Technologies, Inc. in November last year.
Defensor yesterday reacted to the opinion of a national newspaper columnist alleging that Drilon manipulated the bidding so that Kuan Yu would win the contract for the oil spill cleanup in Estancia, Iloilo.
“That is not true,” said Defensor in defense of Drilon. “That is a malicious comment.”
“Wala man ya interes si Drilon sa bidding, wala gani sia ka kilala sa Kuan Yu nga ina,” the governor added.
It was Nov. 8 last year when Power Barge 103 owned by Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. ran aground the shoreline of Barangay Botongon, Estancia and spilled bunker fuel during the onslaught of super typhoon “Yolanda.” It displaced 1,200 families.
Defensor also does not believe that there was “someone” behind the continued “refusal” of state-owned PSALM to release the names of the members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
The governor expressed eagerness to obtain the list of BAC members and the minutes of the bidding.
“Indi mahimo nga indi nila pag-ihatag ang list,” the governor firmly said.
The House Committee on Energy led by Oriental Mindoro’s Rep. Reynaldo Umali will come over here to conduct a public hearing on Oct. 9. Prior to that, they will visit the oil spill site in Barangay Botongon on Oct. 8.
The governor promised to make strong representation to the Committee in that hearing and will ask the committee to issue a subpoena duces tecum to PSALM to release the documents.
Refusal has a corresponding penalty, the governor said.
“I could not understand PSALM. If there were no irregularities in the bidding, why don’t they just release the names of the BAC member and the minutes,” said Defensor.
The governor has been criticizing the slow response of PSALM and cleanup contractor, Kuan Yu to the oil spill. He vowed to haul them to court.
However, the provincial government could not easily file the case in court because it needs the names of the BAC members and the minutes of the bidding.
Defensor suspected something amiss during the bidding. As he recalled it, PSALM awarded the contract to Kuan Yu without post-qualification.
He also noted that Kuan Yu won two hours after the first bidding failed.
“A contract as big as this went to a contractor with no (oil spill cleanup) experience and capability. It has no equipment or machines. We can’t find its office and the people it sent here have no expertise,” said the governor in previous interview.
Defensor also learned that Kuan Yu’s authorized capital stock was only P1 million, its subscribed capital stock P250,000 and its paid-up capital P60,000.
Before Kuan Yu revised its articles of incorporation in 2012, the company was originally known as Maxx Ionized Alkaline Water Inc., a franchiser of purified water refilling stations.
It took two weeks for PSALM to act on the oil spill, resulting in higher level of toxicity, said Drilon.
Humanitarian Response, a specialized digital service of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, described the Estancia oil spill as a “major” one and a “cross-cutting humanitarian issue” that also involved the environment./PN
