Bayani Fernando Exposed

Tah da! buking!

hephephep.... Innocent until proven guilty. Kaso. But. Ngunit. Subalit. Datapwat. sa Pilipinas you are guilty until proven innocent. sad but true


Omerta: Graft cases vs Fernando
Written by Butch del Castillo
Monday, 08 December 2008 21:19


When President Arroyo appointed former Marikina Mayor Bayani S. Fernando chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on June 14, 2002, she said in her announcement: “When I called Bayani, I said, `BF, what you did for Marikina, you must do for the whole country.’”

akala ko ba metro manila lang?

That statement seemed odd at the time, considering that Metro Manila is definitely not “the rest of the country.” What she meant by that statement became clear only about six months later when she appointed him public works and highways secretary (on a concurrent capacity) on January 9, 2008.

Apparently, the President—impressed by his accomplishments as Marikina mayor—had high hopes that Fernando, an engineer, would be able to work his magic on a nationwide scale. Thus, she gave him the public works portfolio in addition to his assignment as MMDA chairman.

take note BF is a mechanical engineer doing civil engineering project

(As subsequent events would show, it did not take long before he had to relinquish the much-coveted Cabinet job. For reasons the public has not been able to divine, Fernando seems perfectly at home in his multibillion peso fiefdom that the MMDA is.)

Nobody, of course, could fault the President for openly admiring Fernando, who had racked up quite an impressive pile of accolades for himself and Marikina during his stint as Marikina mayor. After all, the residents of Marikina themselves seemed quite satisfied with him. They elected him mayor for three straight terms from 1992 to 2001. They also elected in his place as mayor his wife, Maria Lourdes C. Fernando, when he had reached the three-term limit set by law.

Hindi lahat bumoto kay BF at sa asawa nya. ang tawag ko sa kanila... well informed voters at hindi nalokong botante

In 1994, Marikina was adjudged best local government unit in the National Capital Region. The other major accolades the city got under his leadership included the following: Best Local Government Unit in the Philippines, by the National Heritage Award (Pamana ng Lahi) in 1995; Most Outstanding City in 1997; and Best Managed City 1999.

But to several people who have had the chance to observe him closely or deal with him and the city government of Marikina, Fernando is hardly the paragon of virtue and excellence in public service that he paints himself to be.

see i told you

At the Office of the Ombudsman are several graft and administrative cases filed against him and practically the entire city council for irregularities involving hundreds of millions of pesos worth of contracts for infrastructure projects, and purchases of materials and equipment.

where there is smoke there is flame... este fire! hahaha

In two two separate cases, complainants Teodolfo T. Macarilao and Dominador M. Domingo have cited Fernando for alleged irregularities in connection with the award of four contracts for the construction of school buildings in various barangays. These projects were allegedly awarded to different contractors in violation of the Article 1B 10.4.1 of the implementing rules and regulations of Presidential Decree 1594.

Fernando also hired a consultant unnecessarily in connection with the construction of Marikina’s Hall of Justice and the City Jail building.


Complainants Oscar L. Reyes and Estrellita Regellana, in another case, denounced Fernando and other Marikina key officials for alleged irregularities in connection with two contracts, one amounting to P31.65 million for the construction of a three-story, 36-room classroom school building in Fortune Parang Parang; and the other one, which was worth P59.6 million, for the construction of the justice and jail buildings.

In a separate case, complainants Mario F. Fontanilla Sr. and Edmundo B. Mission denounced irregularities in three city construction projects in different barangays “with a total project cost of P96 million, disclosed deficiencies totaling P5.737 million, including liquidated damages not imposed.”

In this case, which implicated city engineer Alfonso P. Espiritu; Melvin A. Cruz, city administrator; and Councilor Larry Punzalan, just to name a few, statements of work accomplished and certifications of completion and acceptance were all falsified.

In another case, complainants Romulo G. Borja and Arcangel L. de la Paz, denounced Fernando and several others in the city government for alleged irregularities in the procurement of some P5 million worth of “various deformed bars.” The procured bars were not subjected to material testing as required by Commission on Audit rules. The purchase was overpriced, as borne out by test results of samples taken from the City Central Warehouse.

Complainants Macarilao and Domingo filed yet another case with the Ombudsman against Fernando for irregularities in the purchase of P19.99 million worth of personalized notebooks and P1.99 million worth of schoolbags. These items were allegedly paid for with funds taken from the city’s Special Education Fund (SEF), which is not allowed, and therefore illegal. The schoolbags were also found overpriced.

Complainant Alberto S. Lamayo, president of the Federation of Marikina Public Schools Parents and Teachers Associations, also denounced Mayor Bayani F. Fernando in connection with a P100 million loan taken out by the city from the Philippine Veterans Bank. By deducting P25 million a year from the SEF to amortize the loan for five consecutive years, Fernando allegedly violated sections 272 and 100 of Republic Act 7160, the Local Government Code, governing the utilization of the fund, as well as the creation of indebtedness by the city as provided for in sections 296 and 313 of the same Code.

These specific cases are among those that have gathered dust at the Office of Ombudsman since 2001. They are apart from the cases involving irregularities “in community mortgage programs in Marikina City” that have also been filed with the Ombudsman and are still awaiting resolution. It is in the mortgage programs case that Fernando’s wife, Mayor Maria Lourdes C. Fernando, is also named along with dozens of respondents, including key officials of the city government.

The criminal cases of graft are apart from the administrative cases for grave misconduct and abuse of authority that the respondents are facing.

We can only surmise that these cases have not been allowed to prosper because Fernando, until now, seems to be doing well—in the eyes of the Arroyo administration. Nowadays, it seems, it doesn’t matter what the public may think about the MMDA chairman. What only matters is what GMA thinks about him.

ano ba meron itong si BF kay GMA at ganon ka lakas. hmmm... ?

More and more people are coming out to denounce Fernando, just like the ones who sent me the above-mentioned Ombudsman cases. We will try to accommodate as much of their inputs as this column can possibly allow.

ang dami no? I'm sure hindi lang ito ang mga kaso ni BF

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3054:omerta-graft-cases-vs-fernando-&catid=28:opinion&Itemid=64


PS: nagoogle ko ito
http://bayanifernandox.tripod.com/baho/baho.html

luma na siya. karamihan dead links. hahaha