Fraternal ties that bind

Almost two months after Spybiz wrote a column item about a controversial consultancy contract in a government mass transport project ("Brod is thicker than water," July 11, 2006), it seems nothing much has changed. Our Ear-spy disclosed that the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) head is still bent on awarding the contract to the firm of his collegiate fraternity "brod." The Board of the government agency wanted to conduct a real, competitive bidding, so this BAC head concocted an elaborate scheme to give the impression that everything was above board by allowing three other "unfavored" bidders to participate. Two were eventually left — the brod’s company and another consultancy firm. Our informants said that on the day the bids were to be opened, a member of the favored bidder went to the government agency office very early and in connivance with some unscrupulous personnel, allegedly opened the sealed bid and inserted additional documents. While the logs would show that the favored bidder went to the office earlier, records were reportedly altered to show that this early bird was the last to submit its bid. This has given rise to speculations that irregularities may have been committed, and the poor, other bidder may have been merely used to give the bidding process a semblance of legitimacy. The fraternal ties that bind this BAC head and the favored bidder must be so tight for the former to risk breaking the law. Let’s see what happens next.

‘Tatler’ tales

Regular updates via email are circulating about the goings on in one of the most exclusive clubs in the country where board elections were recently held. Emails from the enthusiastic ‘tatler’ disclosed that the so-called "GGG" party won against the opposition, catapulting the queen of the pack at the top of the heap with her magic 350 votes. According to the tattle tale, the new queen was observed doing a song and dance number similar to the victory jig of a former female senator that sent people congregating at the EDSA Shrine. On the other hand, another candidate known for his alleged dislike of foreigners, especially Caucasians, reportedly left the room in tears after news of his defeat came out. Senior members reportedly bemoaned the fact that decent men, like this nationally renowned architect and writer, were unable to win because of the shift in the Club’s politics paradigm with the surfeit of gullible newbies who swallow everything the queen dishes out — hook, line and sinker. While the 3G gang may have won this round, expect the fight to go on as opposition members will continue to question the proposed "monster restoration plan" and the worsening quality of food served at the Club.

Tale of a prince-turned-pauper

This former band leader who’s the scion of a businessman engaged in construction is reportedly living like a pauper now in an apartment "lent" to him by a banking honcho. But once upon a time, especially in the 80s, he used to live like a prince, painting the town red in his white German-made mechanical steed. Then this prince married a charming lady who was sadly unacceptable to the family. Then he sold his interests in his father’s company, went to the US and squandered his inheritance. All the investments he made in the US turned sour, so he had no recourse but to return to the country but this time, not as a prince but a pauper. To the shock of many in a recent party, the wife of this former band leader with a colorful life reportedly said they are just waiting for his mother to go for him to get his inheritance — so this prince-turned-pauper can live like a prince again.

Spy tidbiz: New diplomatic posting for Tony Rufino

During the wake of former political adviser Joey Rufino who died of complications from liver cancer, GMA was reportedly overheard discussing the diplomatic posting for Joey’s brother Tony, ambassador-designate to Papua New Guinea. The said country of just over five million population is one of the least explored culturally and geographically. It seems GMA is having second thoughts about sending Tony to PNG because the artistic talents of Tony’s wife, Mita, may just go to waste in the highly rural country. Mita, who is also known as a staunch advocate of Filipino heritage and culture, can make full use of her talents in more developed countries. There’s a possibility that Tony may get another diplomatic posting, perhaps in Europe.

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