Ramon Uy replies

The owner of the R.U. Foundry and Machine Shop Corporation, Ramon Uy has written in response to my column on November 13. That piece, True or False, cited the column of Jarius Bondoc in the Philippine Star of November 11.

Just to recapitulate, Bondoc says that RUFMSC cornered a contract with the Department of Agriculture to be the sole provider of shredders but there was no bidding. The contract in two tranches totaled P966 million.  The DA purchased 1,380 shredders that Bondoc claims was priced at P483 million each tranche.  

Bondoc further claims that the price of shredders in the market was P50,000.

So our readers don’t get lost along the way, I am commenting as his reply claims.

In his answer,  which I received November 16, Uy said that I should have gotten his “side of the story before writing it.” For his information, aside from his reply that was dated November 6 before Bondoc’s piece and my column appeared, I am not a reporter, but an opinion writer. I don’t ask permission or anybody what and when I write.

Uy claims there was a bid notice published in Philgeps (the government’s electronics posting) and Manila Times in February 2009. The bidding was conducted March 17 and the award given on July 14, 2009. He said it took 4 months because “technical people inspected our facilities here in Bacolod several times before the release of the notice of award.”

Now, isn’t that unusual? Why would it take the technical people four months to inspect the shredders several times when its mechanism is not that complicated and after the bidding has been conducted and he was already declared the winner?

Moreover, Uy did not say how many bidders there were.

Bondoc claims there was no clear bidding, which, of course, is tantamount to negotiated contract.

We know that public bidding can be manipulated to favor a chosen supplier. It does not really matter that there was publication because that is required by law but it is usually a sham. Any contractor knows how the chosen one corners the contract even if bid several times.

There was no over-price, Uy claims. The price was only P350,000 less P21,000 of withholding tax for a package consisting of a shredder with one extra blade, two vermin tea compost brewer delivered on site, 15 kilos of African Night Crawler Worms delivered on site, three vermin beds installed on site, training in operation and maintenance of the shredder and training and transfer of complete technology in vermin compositing. They also had to go to the site twice.

He denied there was under-delivery and he delivered from Aparri to Tawi-tawi at substantial cost. That is his claim,  which cannot be validated since that is a general statement and self-serving.

Bondoc says there were separate costings for other components aside from the shredder: P,2000 each for the brewer, P500 per kilo of the 15 kilos of worms and for the beds which were either tarpaulin or concrete. So Uy’s claim cannot be independently determined.

However, Uy lumped them all to make the shredder price look reasonable. But even so, P329,000 per shredder is clearly extremely high compared to other shredders.

Those who know shredders can say that there is nothing much different in technology, quality, workmanship, capability and performance that Uy claims superiority to price it seven or more times.    

We have vermin culture here so producers know the facts.

Another of Uy’s claims of superiority over others is his “unprecedented lifetime warranty.” Indeed it is unprecedented because, as Bondoc writes it, no serious company makes that kind of guarantee. In fact,  we ask: whose lifetime – the machine or the corporation – and then what happens after since the government has already paid for this life time guarantee?  

Uy’s letter raised more questions, but I’ll leave that for later. For now, let me share readers’ feedbacks.

Someone said Uy knows former Secretary Arthur Yap who is linked to this project and that Yap is facing plunder charges, among them  one that involves this questionable purchase. Is Uy included?

Another said that he was wondering how Uy was able to get rich so fast as to be able to buy those sprawling land in Aning, Pahanocoy and construct structures there. He estimates the project could cost not less than P100 million. He claims my column answered his question.

One said, but I am framing this into a question: Has Uy visited Tektite Towers where Napoles transacted business with government agencies?

There is more information. I have given Uy his space unless he has more to say.*

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