Gov. Arthur D. Defensor Sr. delivering his State of the Province Address before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Iloilo.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. proudly reported that during his one year stay in office, graft and corruption in the Provincial Government has been “drastically minimized and the resources of government has been fully maximized.”
In his State of the Province Address (SOPA) delivered during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on July 20, Defensor said that his administration’s commitment for reform and change has “come to life in the results that we are now beginning to see a year after we took the helm of the provincial leadership.”
Defensor cited his administration’s “zero commission and no S.O.P.” policy which, he claimed, has yielded positive results.
Biddings are now conducted openly, and the public can witness the opening of sealed bids and listen to the deliberations of the Bids and Awards Committee.
Defensor said by encouraging competition among suppliers the provincial government has obtained remarkable savings on various procurements and infrastructure projects.
He cited the procurement of medical oxygen, the price of which went down to P285 per cylinder from the previous price of P380 or a difference of P100.
“From July 2010 to May 2011, all our 12 hospitals consumed a total of 20,328 cylinders of medical oxygen. This means we saved around P2 million,” Defensor said.
He also mentioned that the provincial government recently bought an autoclave machine for only P382,000, lower by P966,000 than the price of the controversial autoclave machine acquired by the previous administration which amounted to a whooping P1.3 million.
Worse, the costly autoclave machine purchased by the previous administration was defective and it was one of the anomalous transactions discovered by State Auditor Haydee Pasuelo that earned her an award from no less than President Benigno Simeon Aquino.
Defensor also cited that the provincial government saved a total of almost P14.5 million from all the infrastructure projects undertaken since July 2010 because of the competitive bidding.
The repair and maintenance of roads and bridges also generated a savings of around P2.5 million when the Approved Budget for the Contract was almost P19.5 million while the actual bid amount was nearly P17 million.
Defensor added, the province also saved almost P5 million in the repair of the Iloilo Sports Complex which amounted to only P22.5 million over an ABC of P27.5 million.
Further, a savings of almost P4 million was obtained for the repair and maintenance of hospitals and health-related infrastructure projects, where the ABC was P39.8 million while the actual bid amount was only P35.8 million.
Defensor also stressed that his office has not spent a single centavo from its 2011 allocation of P2.5 million for Gasoline, Oil and Lubricant Expenses” because the gasoline that we purchased using our 2010 budget has not been used up. In fact, from the 2010 budget, we saved P1.342 million, obligating only P907,331.41 out of an allocation of P2.5 million.”
“This is how we tread the “matuwid na daan.” No commissions. No S.O.P.s. No favored contractors,” Defensor stressed.
Defensor also included in his nearly 30 minutes SOPA his administration’s accomplishments and plans in the aspect of health services, environmental protection and enhancement, agriculture, education and social services, employment opportunities, infrastructure and other support facilities. (ECGarcia/ Capitol News)
