A GROUP of lawyers has filed a petition to stop the implementation of the P120-million heavy-equipment purchase of Butuan City.
In their petition, lawyers Clint Dabalos, Dennis Bacala, Araceli Luyahan-Orcilla, Vincent Jose Fortun and Dendo Ugarde asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injuction against the project.
The petition was raffled off to the sala of Judge Augustus Calo of Branch 5 of the Regional Trial Court in Agusan del Norte and Butuan City. It was docketed Civil Case 7263.
Aside from Mayor Ferdinand Amante, the lawyers also included in the case private contractor Conequip Phils. Inc. and members of the city government’s Bids and Awards Committee as respondents.
The petitioners claimed the price of 11 different heavy equipment awarded to Conequip Phils. Inc. was “glaringly excessive.”
Conequip Phils. Inc. won the bidding to supply one crawler-type excavator, four 10-wheeled dump trucks, two pneumatic pavement breakers, one motor grader, one vibratory compactor, one 10-wheeled tractor head, three 6-wheeler 4×2 garbage compactors, two 6-wheeler garbage compactor trucks, one transit mixer and one vacuum and jetting truck.
The lawyers asked the court to order the respondents to produce the documents pertaining to the contract, “which is presently in their full control and custody.”
Despite the lack of documents in their possession, the petitioners said they conducted extensive research and analysis on the equipment to be supplied by Conequip “and the results were dumbfounding.”
They said that their research revealed that the heavy equipment that will be supplied by Conequip were all made in China, and considered as the cheapest in Asia.
However, the prices of heavy equipment indicated in the bidding documents were far higher compared to branded heavy machinery in the market.