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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Anomaly or Scam?

something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. 
 "there are a number of anomalies in the present system"
synonyms: oddity, peculiarity, abnormality, irregularity, inconsistency, incongruity, aberration, quirk, rarity: 
 "the growth on the duck's bill is a harmless anomaly"

a dishonest scheme; a fraud:
 "an insurance scam"
synonyms: fraud, swindle, fraudulent scheme, racket, trick
informal: con, hustle, flimflam, bunco, grift, gyp, shakedown: 
"the scam involved a series of bogus investment deals"

Ex-BuCor execs face graft raps over P3.7M procurement anomaly (Published December 8, 2015 12:28pm)
The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to file graft charges against former officials of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in connection with the alleged anomalous procurement of materials for the construction of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) building in 2012. A separate case of violation of Section 65 (4) of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act was also ordered to be filed.

Pangilinan, Hari, Santidad and Dador were also found administratively liable for Grave Misconduct and were ordered dismissed from the service with perpetual disqualification from reemployment in the government service. Based on the Ombudsman’s investigation, the respondents illegally entered into four “small value procurement” contracts with suppliers Grand Potential and Dotgain for the NBP building construction project worth P1.4 million in 2012. The Ombudsman said the respondents intentionally split one project into four small contracts in order to evade the required public bidding.

The Ombudsman also found out that the suppliers were actually not engaged into construction materials manufacturing but in the printing business.

“There is no evidence that BuCor attempted to ensure the most advantageous price for the government,” a portion of the Ombudsman resolution read.

The Ombudsman further found out that during BuCor’s road map launch, Pangilinan and the other respondents also spent P2.3 million to cover expenses for food, giant tarpaulins and tents by resorting to emergency purchase instead of bidding. “There was no compelling reason to dispense with competitive bidding nor resort to small value procurement,” the Ombudsman said in its resolution.

Last October, the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan had convicted Santidad of 21 counts of falsification of public documents in connection with the anomalous utilization of the Priority Developoment Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the late Isabela Representative Antonio Abaya for the procurement of service vehicles for the latter’s district.

Santidad, at that time, was the director for procurement of the Department of Transportation and Communication. He was sentenced to a maximum of seven years of imprisonment.
Ex-BuCor chief, admin officer face raps for P3.7-M NBP scam (Posted at 12/08/15 2:59 PM)
Read the article linked above. This is essentially the same copy. There was no substantive difference except in the titles, one calling the affair a mere "anomaly", the other an egregious "scam".

So, which is it, and does it make a difference?