Withhold consultants’ pay, accountant asked

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council wants the City Accountant‘s Office to withhold the monthly remuneration of consultants of the city government pending their compliance with legal requirements.

During the regular session last Tuesday, Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia said the hiring of consultants should comply with the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

In the November 24 legal opinion of the City Legal Office, handling lawyer Bernard Inocentes Garcia cited IRR of RA 9184 that hiring of consultancy “are mandated to register with Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and provides a PhilGEPS registration number…as a condition for award of the contract.”

Garcia said the noncompliance of having PhilGEPS was cited as reason for the Bids and Awards Committee-Infrastructure for not approving the hiring of consultants to some councilors allied with Barug Team Rama.

“Requesting the City Accountant to withhold the payment of all consultants professional fees pending the review of Atty (Evangeline) Abatayo (BAC Chairperson) on whether these consultants have complied with R.A 9184 on the mandatory registration of PhilGEPS,” he said.

Garcia said the continued payment to consultants might violate the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by “giving an undue advantage to a party to the detriment of the City of Cebu.”

Councilor Margarita Osmeña said she was informed that BAC will start requiring the consultants to be registered with PhilGEPS starting January 2018 since the consultants from June to December this year have already been approved.

“So far, no consultants have PhilGEPS because they don’t even know that they were required to have PhilGEPS registration,” she said.

Garcia, however, said that the city should follow the law, stressing it cannot “waive what is written in the law.”

Osmeña asked if those consultants approved should be disapproved considering that none of them have secured PhilGEPS accreditation.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said if the requirement did not exist at that time, the same cannot be given a retroactive effect.

Councilor Joel Garganera, for his part, said Barug Team Rama councilors were informed about the requirements of the law when he wrote a letter to BAC in July.

Garganera said he obtained a copy of the requisites in the procurement of consultancy services from the Bids and Awards Committee infrastructure and consulting services head lawyer Evangeline Abatayo citing that all consultants should be registered with the PhilGEPS.

“It’s not fair. Other Councilors have consultants who do not have PhilGEPS registration,” Garganera said.

With this, the Council asked BAC to provide the legislative office a list of all consultants of the city government who are getting P18,000 monthly remuneration.

Garcia said the hiring of consultants as provided by the law should be followed by the executive department to avoid violations.

Aside from the resolution approving the hiring of consultants, Garcia said he will require all consultants to attach the PhilGEPS registration before it will be approved by the City Council.

“We will be strict about this. This should not be based on party lines but based on laws,” he said. (FREEMAN)