Sometime in January, I wrote about the undelivered office uniforms of the Romblon provincial employees, which according to my source, cost P1.2 million, the amount allegedly deducted in March 2008 from the employees’ clothing allowance for that year to the tune of P3,700 per employee.
I thought this issue has been resolved, and the uniforms have been delivered, considering that it is already May 2009. I said then that one year is already too long for the employees to wait for their uniforms to be sewn, and I wondered aloud what happened. I opined that another mysterious event has occurred in the Jojo Beltran-held capitol, and this one had no forthcoming explanation, just like the many other Beltran mysteries during the last two-and-a-half years.
I was wrong. Last March 31, I received a letter from a certain Salvador Hernandez, who shed a faint light—but still light—on the uniforms. I can’t remember if I know or have met the guy—the name seemed fictitious, or looks like he comes straight from the movies—but he wrote and that’s all that matters. I don’t know if he is the provincial information officer or Gov. Jojo Beltran’s spokesman. He seemed to be in the know. I am sharing to readers his letter, unedited:
“Dear Nicon:
I read your article regarding the uniforms of the provincial employees in our province of Romblon. Please be informed that not all of the employees had availed of the subject uniforms. More than 50% of the provincial employees opted to have it in cash.
So, only 439 provincial employees had their measurement taken. As of January 2009, more or less 180 sets of uniforms were already delivered which is roughly 41%. The tailoring shop which is Golden Moore sent a letter sometime late January 2009 to Governor Beltran explaining among other things the reasons behind the delay. A copy of the letter is hereto attached for your reference and perusal.
Should you have further query on all other matters, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned on the email address as indicated.
Hoping that the foregoing may have enlighten you regarding the issue, and may you consider also publish or post the explanation in your blog.
Thank you very much. Best regards.
gado_921”
Well, thank you, ‘Gado’. How good of you to write. You are very so unlike your boss, who does not even answer his mobile phone.
I purposely did not reply to Gado’s letter because I planned to write about it. First, let’s do the math.
Gado says more than 50 percent of the provincial employees availed of the uniform allowance in cash, while 439 employees opted to have their uniforms in kind, or “to have their measurement taken”.
How many exactly, Gado, is “more than 50 percent?” Fifty-one percent? Fifty-two? I asked this because if I follow you correctly, 439 is certainly less than 50 percent of the total, right? If this is correct, then are we to understand that the provincial capitol has nearly a thousand employees? Susmariosep. Kargado ka kapitolyo! I will ask my readers: Do you really think the province of Romblon ought to have that many employees? ‘Tung klaro yang!
And how much is the clothing allowance of each employee? We don’t know, but we know that if P3,700 was deducted from the clothing allowance of each of the 439 employees, that could total to P1,624,300. My informant said it was P1.2 million, a discrepancy of almost half a million. The P1.2 million was allegedly given to one Raylin Famatiga. Do you know her or him, Gado?
Last January, Gado said 180 sets of uniforms were already delivered. That’s only 41 percent of the total. Maybe the uniform contractor has no machine, or has no employee, and so hand-sewn every uniform, that’s why it took her this long to deliver 180 sets.
Gado attached in his e-mail a letter of a certain Clairdale R. Collado, the proprietor of Golden Moore, the uniform’s contractor, to Gov. Jojo Beltran. Golden Moore’s office/shop address is right on top of its letterhead, at P21-01 7th Street, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City. It has no phone number, so I was not able to call to check the veracity of the letter.
Collado was very apologetic to the governor. She said the cause of the delay in the delivery of the uniforms was the “defects found in the embroidered provincial logo.”
Apparently, the uniforms bear the logo of the province, but when the staff of the governor inspected the uniforms, as Collado said, the defects were discovered and the staff rejected them. Because of the rejection, the supplier has to repair or re-produce the uniforms.
“Although the defects were minor, these cannot be easily repaired as these (sic) will damage the fabric,” Collado said, adding:
“Rather than delving into whose fault and culpable to the defects of the embroidery (sic), I am still committed to fulfill my obligation to complete the deliver(y) although I still maintain that the defects were brought about by miscommunication and (mis)understanding on the details of the specifications.” She promised full delivery between March and May 2009—which will bring the saga of the uniforms of the 439 provincial employees to a lengthy period of over one-year! Sa kasasampidaton nak kontratista kali-ong Golden Moore.
So, there’s the whole story, according to Gado. But wait, Mr. Hernandez, let me ask you a few more questions.
Who chose Golden Moore? Did it win in a fair and square, transparent bidding? Was bidding conducted in the first place? Was Golden Moore required to post a bidder’s bond? Why does it seem that it was paid in advance? Did the governor accept Golden Moore’s explanation for the delay? Who inspected the uniforms? Shouldn’t it be that a Golden Moore representative or its owner conduct official business in the capitol, it being a supplier? Why did it look like that somebody from the capitol went to Golden Moore’s office/shop to do the inspection? Who approved the specifications of the uniform, including the logo?
Lastly, who in the provincial capitol received a commission from Golden Moore for giving it an opportunity to do business with the office of Gov. Beltran? No one? Excuse me, I will puke.
To Gado and all the others, write me at balitsaw@gmail.com.
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