“Kolonwel has the image of a nuisance bidder and perennial complainant, having unsuccessfully taken part in public biddings for government contracts ranging from the supply of fertilizers to textbooks to noodles.”
by Ducky Paredes
Apparently, the first unit of the state-of-the-art multifunctional equipment from Integrated Refrigeration System and Services Inc. (IRSSI) – that we have written about several times — has been delivered to Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura led by Ariel Manalac in Sariaya, Quezon province.
This cutting-edge equipment uses a new quick-freeze technology that allows fish and other fresh produce to be stored in Styrofoam boxes for two to three days without ice while retaining their fresh quality and taste.
Once the machines begin doing their work, the obviously politically motivated charges filed against the National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), which is the DA-attached corporate entity involved in the project, can be set aside.
The complainants in the separate charges of plunder by militant groups Pamalakaya, Anakbayan and Anakpawis, and of graft by Messrs. Allan Ragasa of Sunvar and Dennis Quido of Kolonwel, seemingly have diverse motives in mounting these publicity stunts.
The leftist groups led by Pamalakaya are apparently after media attention—desperately hoping to grab free publicity ahead of the official campaign period—given that these self-styled complainants have unduly dragged President Arroyo and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap by including them in the rap sheet.
Kolonwel has the image of a nuisance bidder and perennial complainant, having unsuccessfully taken part in public biddings for government contracts ranging from the supply of fertilizers to textbooks to noodles.
After Ragasa filed a graft complaint against Nabcor officials before the Ombudsman, Quido filed an amended complaint that included Yap among the respondents. Quido was present—and sat alongside Ragasa—during a press conference that Ragasa had called to announce his filing of the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Then, the Pamalakaya-led group filed a plunder case against President Arroyo, Yap and Nabcor executives on the basis of the phony charges raised by Ragasa and Quido in connection with the Sept. 2 bidding.
Kolonwel also bid last year on a P329.6-million contract of the DA on the supply of urea fertilizers. Under the DA rules, bidders needed a bank guarantee equivalent to 10% of the contract, or equivalent to roughly P32 to P33 million. Kolonwel was disqualified because it could not come up even with just a bank guarantee of P8.2 million.
Kolonwel also participated in the public bidding by the Department of Education (DepEd) for the supply and delivery of 17.5 million copies of “Makabayan” textbooks and teachers’ manuals. It was disqualified, however, for its failure to comply with the technical requirements, among other things.
Rather than accept the DepEd’s decision, given that it failed to meet the bidding requirements, Kolonwel filed an injunction case in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila to stop the procurement process, which was eventually granted by the trial court.
The case went all the way to the Supreme Court as the DepEd filed a petition for certiorari questioning the RTC’s ruling. In the end, the Supreme Court reversed the RTC decision and junked Kolonwel’s complaint on the ground that it had failed to comply with the proper protest mechanism as provided for under the Procurement Law or Republic Act 9184.
Under this law, losing bidders are not allowed the legal shortcut of taking their case directly to the courts. These losers must first file a motion for reconsideration of the final decision of the Bidding and Awards Committee (BAC) of any agency. If rejected anew, these complainants are required to submit another motion questioning the BAC decision. If turned down anew, then – and only then — can losers or complainants can elevate their protest before the proper court.
Why is Kolonwel even bidding when it obviously cannot meet bidding requirements?
Is Kolonwel only creating trouble to harass government agencies and the winning bidders. As pointed out by agriculture officials in media reports, it seems that this company has gained notoriety as a shakedown artist.
The complainants—Pamalakaya, Anakpawis and Anakbayan along with Quido of Kolonwel and Ragasa of Sunvar—are comparing apples and oranges in peddling their charges of overpricing against this P455.2-million contract to procure the top-of-the-line postharvest machines from the winning bidder, Integrated Refrigeration System and Services, Inc. (IRSSI).
They describe IRRSI’s equipment as only an “ice-making” machine. These are not ice-makers. These are transportable, energy-efficient machines using state-of-the-art brine immersion freezing (BIF) and liquid quick freeze (LQF) technologies to freeze and preserve food items like meat, fish and non-leafy vegetables for months and even up to a year.
Nabcor’s contract was awarded to IRSSI because it was the only company, among the four that had sent representatives to the public bidding for the supply of the machines
that submitted a formal bid, while representatives of three companies—Kolonwel, JOAVI and Instrumech Philippines Inc.—surprisingly backed out at the last minute and abstained from submitting their respective bids even if they were present during the bidding.
If these non-bidders are now claiming that they can supply the same kind of machines using the same or similar revolutionary technology of IRSSI at a much cheaper price, the question is: why didn’t any of them submit a formal bid?
This new BIF technology, which was developed by Filipino inventor Hernando Decena, will allow fisherfolk, for example, to store their fish in standard Styrofoam boxes for two to three days without using ice and yet the fish will retain their fresh quality and taste. If placed in conventional freezers or refrigerators after being processed in BIF freezers, commodities can retain their quality and freshness for as long as six months to a year.
This new technology can also store other agricultural produce like meat, non-leafy vegetables and fruits with the quality and freshness of these commodities remaining the same as during the day these were caught or harvested and then frozen.
According to Decena, “BIF allows instant freezing, which, as a result, eliminates crystallization, thus preserving the freshness, flavor and texture of the frozen product. A superb feature of this technology is that the quality of the BIF-frozen fish stays the same after two to three days, so that it tastes as fresh or as good as newly caught fish when grilled or cooked any other way.”
Under the project, Nabcor is procuring an initial 98 units of BIF freezers. The plan is to turn these over to beneficiaries like farmers or fisherfolk organizations through a counterpart arrangement in which the Nabcor retains the equipment and the beneficiaries get to use, operate and maintain them.
So far, Nabcor has already received more than 200 applications from potential beneficiaries wanting to take part in the project, such as local government units, farmers’ cooperatives and fisherfolk organizations, food processors’ associations and meat and poultry producers and suppliers.
Another advantage of BIF technology is its mobility and easy plug-in feature. A BIF compartment has a wheeled stand, which makes it easy to transport and move around and plug into any available electrical outlet unlike the old-type blast freezer or holding freezer that needs to be permanently put in place and requires large installation works and a separate electrical supply.
It only takes two people to operate one unit. This type of freezer has a very low freezing point property. Hence, no bacteria or microorganism can survive the minus-30 to minus-40 degrees Celsius operating freezing temperature,” he said.
What is of prime importance is that the Department of Agriculture has bought into advanced technology and has gone ahead with using the technology to improve the lives of our farmers and fisherfolk. Too bad that there are still people who would stall progress if they cannot make money on it. Shame on those (including the Leftist groups) who would use any means, including the law, to stop real progress.
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Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com
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hvp 01.28.10
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