May sabit Xuzhou? Drilon claims unregistered Chinese firm bagged P1.9-B contract in a year

A Chinese company that’s allegedly not registered in the Philippines bagged close to P1.9 billion in contracts for medical supplies from the government, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has revealed.

A check on the Government Procurement Policy Board’s (GPPB) website showed Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group was the supplier which bagged the second largest amount of contracts at P1.898 billion under the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws, which were passed last year.

The company that was awarded the biggest total amount of contracts—at P8.680 billion—was Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is now investigating how a little known firm bagged multibillion-peso contracts to supply COVID-19 supplies even if it was only registered in the Philippines in 2019 and had a paid-up capital of P625,000.

In an interview on One News’ “The Chiefs” Friday (Sept. 3), Drilon questioned the award of supply contracts to Xuzhou Construction.

“It’s the second biggest supplier, but this company isn’t even incorporated in the Philippines. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has issued a certificate of non-registration,” he said.

“The question we ask is how can a a construction company from China be favored with P1.9-billion [worth] of supplies,” Drilon, an abogado, added.

The opposition senator said companies dealing with the government must be registered with the SEC. That requirement, he added, wasn’t set aside with the passage of the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws, which gave the government special powers to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Suppose something goes wrong, how do you sue them? They must have a license, a registered agent on whom service of summons can be served,” Drilon said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)