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By Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter
Street sweepers from the Metro
Manila Development Authority are considering filling a graft case
against officials of the agency involved in the procurement of
allegedly overpriced uniforms.
Some 3,000 street sweepers or
metro aides, who are members of the MMDA employees’ union, Sakamay,
claim that the uniforms are not only overpriced but are of poor
quality.
They refused to accept the
uniforms until the MMDA management acted on their complaint.
The MMDA officials “claimed
that they have taken into account our complaints about the uniforms
they would be distributing to us... but they have pushed through
with it, disregarding our questions on the quality of the gear,”
said Luisa Estacion, Sakamay secretary-general.
Estacion said some of the
equipment like rubber boots, thongs, raincoats and belt pouch are
regularly issued to metro aides and should not be deducted from
their P4,000 annual clothing allowance.
Estacion also questioned why
jogging pants were issued to the sweepers instead of regular pants.
She said the sweepers’ clothing
allowance used to include a long-sleeved, collared shirt and pants.
Now the agency gives them garterized jogging pants, an ordinary
shirt and an armband.
She also said that the clothing
issued to them only costs P3,202, P798 short of the P4,000 annual
clothing budget.
The MMDA started distributing new
uniforms to its personnel last January 15. Only the street
sweepers’ group refused to accept the uniforms.
The group also said the
contractor who made the uniforms was endorsed by one of Chairman
Bayani Fernando’s consultants.
Edison Fainsan, the MMDA general
manager for finance, dismissed the claims of the group and said that
the procurement of uniforms went through the regular process and
competitive bidding.
“We are willing to open our
books in order to prove that there’s no irregularity in the
procurement of the new uniforms and that it was made in a very
transparent process,” Fainsan said in an interview.
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