Senator Leila de Lima is seeking for an investigation into reports that a logistics firm owned by a political donor is eyeing to close a deal with the Commission on Elections for the May polls logistical supplies.
De Lima filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 855 seeking to ensure that the May 2022 national and local polls are free from suspicions of cheating and irregularities by suppliers with links to political parties and possible candidates.
“There is a need to avoid any semblance of conflict of interest and ensure that no supplier that participated in partisan political activities should be awarded with contracts connected to the conduct of our national and local elections,” De Lima, a fearless critic of Duterte, said in a statement.
“Any transaction or contract that would erode public trust in government, and in the objectivity of civil service, must be put under the strictest scrutiny,” she added.
Citing news reports, De Lima said Comelec’s special bids and awards committee (SBAC) declared the logistics firm as the bidder for the P1.61-billion project for the purchase and deployment of equipment, peripherals, forms, supplies, paraphernalia and warehousing for the 2022 polls.
On LTFRB fund use
Apart from SR No. 855, the opposition senator also filed SR No. 862, which called on the Senate to investigate the low utilization of funds for the drivers who have been hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Citing Commission on Audit findings, De Lima said that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) as of December 2020, used only 1% of the P5.5-billion funds for the benefit program of public utility vehicles (PUVs) drivers.
PUV drivers are among the badly-hit group in the transport sector due to limited deployment of PUVs.
“PUV drivers are among the sectors most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On and off restrictions to travel and transportation imposed by the national government to control the spread of the virus have likewise prevented PUV drivers from earning a steady source of income,” the senator said.
“Failure to implement a social assistance program addressed to a particularly vulnerable sector of the society amounts to gross neglect on the part of the government and the implementing agency to the prejudice of the program beneficiaries,” she added. —Consuelo Marquez/LBG, GMA News
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