In a privilege speech on Wednesday, Nov. 23, Northern Samar representative Paul Ruiz Daza called for an immediate investigation on a project bid out by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in the amount of P1.1-billion.
Photo from Congress
The project is supposedly for the NCR Fiber-Optic Backbone Development.
Daza noted that the funds were originally allocated for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to provide 105,000 free public Wi-Fi hotspots for P12 billion.
Part of the allocation in the amount of P3 billion to P4 billion was downloaded to the MMDA and other local government units (LGUs) through Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs).
Daza also emphasized that only Congress can allow inter-agency fund transfer, and it must already be appropriated by law.
Further, the project only had one bidder which is a joint venture between A-Win and Net Pacific, according to Daza’s source. He also raised that there were no postings on the MMDA’s website about the alleged awarding of bidding.
Daza also questioned the joint venture’s validity, asking if there were other bidders and if the MMDA allowed enough time for other qualified bidders, among others.
“These questions are being raised so that we could support our government, especially our President, in cleaning up the bureaucracy including MMDA,” he said.
