Alleged DepEd noodle scam stirs House to action

Friday, May 01, 2009

By Jomar Canlas, Reporter [Source: Manila Times on the net]

THE House Committee on Good Government was urged to investigate the alleged overpricing and anomalous purchase of instant noodles that the Department of Education distributed for its feeding program in schools.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño authored House Resolution 1126, which directs the House body to probe the alleged irregularities in the procurement of instant noodles in line with DepEd’s feeding program.

Casiño said the DepEd recently awarded to Jeverps Manufacturing Corp. the contract for 19,418,880 packs of instant noodles costing P22.00 per pack as part of its “Malusog na Simula, Yaman ng Bansa” feeding program.

“It is ironic and deplorable that such a project intended to augment our public school children’s nutritional requirements is apparently feeding the greed of DepEd officials and their favored suppliers,” he said.

In 2008, the DepEd reportedly procured from Jeverps 15 million packs of instant noodles costing P284 million, where each pack of instant noodles was already allegedly overpriced at P18.00.

The party-list lawmaker said the apparent overpricing and the alleged non-conformity of Jeverps’ products to the package description specified by the DepEd casts serious doubt on its procurement procedures.

“The noodles scam shows tell-tale signs of graft and corruption and plunder implicating administration officials,” Casiño said.

Laboratory tests allegedly made by experts from Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea showed that the noodles had neither egg nor malunggay contents—contrary to Jeverps’ claim that the products contained both ingredients.

For its part, the DepEd on Thursday said that it is willing to review the controversial multi-million-peso purchase of “fortified noodles” for the school feeding program if there is such a need.
“We have nothing to hide,” said Education Secretary Jesli Lapus in Filipino.

Lapus stood his ground over the legality of the purchase, insisting that the project was above-board and had gone through the process required by the Government Procurement Act.
Lapus aired the statement a day after DepEd officials led by Undersecretary Teodosio Sangil Jr., and Assistant Secretary for Special projects, Thelma Santos, appeared before the Senate committees that are conducting an investigation on the issue.

Sangil was the chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) that initiated the bidding won in February by Jeverps.

The DepEd officials stood by the department earlier position that their was no irregularity in the P427-million project despite the fact that Jeverps has won the contract in the last five years netting for the company some P750 million.

They also said that even if Jeverps was the lone bidder for the project, there was no irregularity when the BAC awarded the contract.

--With James Konstantin Galvez

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DepEd officials said they have nothing to hide and so should the House investigate any unaccounted wealth DepEd officials might have. If the House wanted to investigate and prosecute, it is easy enought to see the money trail, if any; and prosecute to the full extent of the law those government and private officials with a hand in this deplorable scam.