The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday said it is set to conduct a preliminary investigation against former Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapus, among others, over botched contracts for the purchase of noodles for his department's feeding program. The probe stemmed from DepEd's awarding of contracts to noodle supplier Jeverps Manufacturing Corporation (JMC) for the department's Food-for-School program. However, Lapus reportedly suspended transactions with Jeverps in 2009 amid allegations of overpricing and false nutritional claims. GMANews.TV tried to reach Lapus for comment, but he could not be contacted as of posting time. In a statement, the Ombudsman said its Field Investigation Office named the following as respondents, aside from Lapus:
- Former DepEd undersecretary and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chair and Teodisio Sangil Jr.;
- Former DepEd BAC vice chair Demetria Manuel;
- Former BAC members Nanette Mamoransing, Macur Marohombsar and Artemio Capellan, Jr.;
- Former DepEd officer-in-charge Ramon Bacani; and
- Jeverps Board of Directors Alexander Billan, Gil Quenano, Lino Ong, Teresita Parco and Terencio Taloma
The DepEd officials were charged for violation of Section 3(e) and (g) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; violation of Article II, Section 7(2) of RA No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act; and violation of Rule III, Section I of RA No. 7394 or the Consumers Act of the Philippines. In addition, the DepEd's Bids and Awards personnel who were named respondents were charged for violating Section 3(g) of RA No. 3019. Members of Jeverps' Board of Directors were also charged with Violation of Section 3(e) and (g) of RA No. 3019. In 2007, DepEd awarded Jeverps a P283.6-million contract for the purchase of more than 16 million packs of 100-gram "fortified instant noodles with fresh eggs." In 2008, the DepEd issued a repeat order awarding Jeverps a P66.6 million contract for the purchase of more than 3.8 million packs of the same noodles under the department's "Low Performing Schools Breakfast Feeding Programs." In a 23-page complaint-affidavit, the Ombudsman's Field Investigation Office (FIO) said the defunct Bureau of Food and Drugs (now Food and Drug Administration or FDA) suspended Jeverps' license to operate in January 2007 for violation of the Food Fortification Law and the Revised Guidelines on Current Good Manufacturing Practices. The BFAD's cease and desist orders against Jeverps' remains standing "for Jeverps' failure to settle the administrative fine of P300,000 imposed by the BFAD." The Ombudsman's FIO also said the DepEd did not submit noodle samples to the BFAD for testing and analysis. "Instead, during the bidding, DepEd considered the samples submitted by Jeverps to Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), the same private laboratory which earlier tested the samples," said the Ombudsman's statement. The SGS results showed Jeverps' noodles had no egg content. Despite this, Jeverps printed "Fortified Instant Noodles with Fresh Eggs" on its noodle packages.
— RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV 
GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
