Councillors from Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental are questioning & investigating the improper billing statements by a foreign-owned business contracted to supply meals to those in the COVID-19 frontlines. Throughout the month, numerous discrepancies in operations from local city officials unraveled conflicts of interest and possible profiteering over pandemic operations.

Receipts written on ordinary paper and a councillor’s involvement

Aladdin Restaurant & Cafe was awarded 10 Million Pesos by the city to cook breakfast, lunch, & dinner to personnel assigned at the city’s checkpoints, barangay tanods, local stranded individuals, and staff of isolation facilities.

The controversy arose as the owner, Mr. Patrick Geroge with partner Dr. Rosana Remollo Habana, billed the city using handwritten receipts written on ordinary paper. Upon further investigation initiated last July 16 by the Committee on Rules, Ordinances & Legal Matters, and Good Governance, it was found that one of the councilors, Hon. Edgar Lentorio, had enticed Mr. George last April about to supply meals to frontliners, with the promise of being paid within 15-30 days.

Critics also noted that a budget of P365 per day was quite expensive, with Councilor Perdices questionning the BAC’s lack of specifications in making the purchase order and did not indicate what the P365 was acutally paying for.

If I have an order for 300 meal boxes and I put 100 grams of adobo and one cup of rice, then all of a sudden my client asks if I can add 75 more, there is an opportunity that instead of putting 7,500 more (grams of adobo), I will just put 75 grams (one each box) so that what I had prepared for 300 meals, I can just repack into 375 meal boxes

Councilor Perdices on speculating the expenses for food packs, retrieved from duamguete.info

Councilor Edgar Lentorio is also Mr. George’s lawyer and the owner of Keith’s Lechon in Bacagay. After the deal was brokered, Aladdin Restaurant rented & set up operations at Lentorio’s lechon restaruant. Reports from the city also found that the councilor also supplied the meat used in the meals prepared by Aladdin restaurant, as well as purchased food containers used in the food packs from “143 Houseware” on credit.

Throughout the investigation, Mr. George denied Councilor Lentorio was a subcontractor for his restaurant and testified that no form of graft or bribery to any public official occured.

A transaction worth P10 million, and not one official delivery receipt–isn’t this questionable? Any legitimate business registered with the BIR can print official receipts authorized by the BIR

Councilor Joe Kenneth Arbas on the lack of official receipts, retrieved from dumaguete.info

The City Social Welfare & Development Office vouched for the food packs receipt from Aladdin Restaurant & Cafe, however the business’ billing statement raised eyebrows during the hearings as supporting documents presented were handwritten delivery receipts on ordinary pieces of paper.

Inconsistent testimonies and Hon. Lentorio’s deepening role

On August 12, during another session by the City Council, 143 Houseware’s records further revealed that the store supplied most of the food’s containers, which bore the name of Councillor Lentorio as having recieved the items. The businesses’ management invited to the council’s investigation to verify Aladdin Restaurant’s claim that the deliveries were not in Lentorio’s name but in George’s name. Eighteeen photocopies from 143 Houseware manager Richie Dayao revealed separate dates in May 2020 under the name of Councillor Lentorio’s but signed in his behalf by Angelica Quinit and Gina.

Councilors Rosel Erames and Michael Bandal criticized Mr. George of giving inconsistent statements by claiming that Councilor Lenotorio “even used his name to purchase on credit the boxes for food from 143 store”, thus misleading the Council that Hon. Lentorio only introduced Aladdin to 143 store and it was Aladdin who had pursued the transactions.

Questionned by Councilor Agustin Miguel Perdices, lawyer of 143 Houseware also stated that while the two women who signed off the deliveries were not formally introduced as Hon. Lentorio’s employees, they remarked that they saw a connection as they were the ones who would go to the house or the store to get the supplies as soon as the order was placed.

However, the City Councillors reiterated at the end of the session they will wait to hear the side of Hon. Lentorio

No mayor’s permit

The investigation later uncovered that Mr. George’s establishment did not have a mayor’s permit. Chair of Bid and Awards Committee, Manuel Arbon, stated that the purchase was classified as an “emergency” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus such transaction was cleared by the Dumaguete City Mayor’s Office. The city legal officer further added that in an emergency procurement, the bidding process is streamlined and stated that Aladdin Restaurant had lived up to their part of the deal in delivering food packs.

Meanwhile, the city councilors also questioned, Faronito Abong, the Internal Audit Office’s inspector, on why he signed the inspection report when he admitted to never seeing any of the alleged deliveries.

Hon. Agustin “Tincho” Perdices noted that the inspection report by the Internal Audit Office was also created on the same day the purchase order was made.

The Government Procurement Policy Board states that only businesses with pending renewals for Mayor’s permits may be considered in the case of awarding a contract to a second cousin of the Head of the Procuring Entity. Mr. George had stated they were in the process of procuring a business permit when the pandemic interrupted such efforts.

It may not be the fault of Aladdin that it does not have a business permit, or why he was given a P10 million contract, of all legitimate businesses in Dumaguete, but it is also a fault on our part because we know the law

Councilor Joe Kenneth Arbas on the issue of the restaurant’s business permit

Hon. Tolentino-Maxino remarked that as city councilors, they should all strive to avoid of even being suspected of involvement in corruption