Joey Salgado, spokesperson of Vice-President Binay, said the premise for the bidding is wrong since the cakes purchased from Bakerite under suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay were not overpriced.
He pointed out that lawyer Renato Bondal admitted before the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee that he only made a guess that the Makati cakes were priced at P1,000 each when documents later showed that the price of the cakes was only P306 each.
Salgado also insinuated there may have been collusion between acting Mayor Kid Pena and Goldilocks, the lone bidder who showed up on Monday. He said Makati already had a formal bidding but the notice of award has not yet been issued to Bakerite.
"This is on record, last month [Vice-Mayor Pena] said ang magsu-supply Goldilocks na and he even quoted the price between P260 to P285. Ngayon kahapon ano ang lumabas? Goldilocks was the lone bidder and the price that Goldilocks quoted was along that same price range, from P260 to P285. That raises for us a lot of questions. You express preference for this supplier and the supplier is the lone bidder," he said.
He also said the cakes of Goldilocks are smaller than Bakerite's, hence the lower cost. He said Bakerite is a reputable bakeshop with headquarters in Quiapo, Manila.
"These are smaller cakes. Obviously if you ask for smaller cakes, the quotation and bid would be smaller. That's clearly a case of deception. Linoloko na naman nila ang media," he said.
Pena earlier told ANC that he would rather have popular bakeshops such as Goldilocks and Red Ribbon to supply birthday cakes to Makati's senior citizens to avoid controversy over the costs.
"Hangga’t maaari para wala na lang shadow of doubt sa lahat ng mga bagay na ‘yan, gusto ko iba na lang ang gumagawa ng cake. Gusto namin i-try ‘yung Red Ribbon or Goldilocks,” Pena said.
A Court of Appeals order freezing 242 bank accounts and other financial instruments of Vice-President Binay and associates also revealed that the Binays have links to Kim Tun Chong, the sole proprietor of a business that supplied the birthday cakes.
READ: Sweet ties: Binays in bed with Makati cake supplier
On Monday, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairman Danilo Villas said the current supplier, Bakerite, was invited to join in the bidding for the cakes contract but did not join.
Gilbert Delos Reyes, new head of the Makati public information office, said the entry of Goldilocks might have caused other interested bidders to back out.
"Dahil Goldilocks iyan, dambuhalang kumpanya, 'yung mga dating nag-signify baka natakot," Delos Reyes said.
Goldilocks' bid was P8,666,080.50. This includes delivery of 31,187 cakes for senior citizens of Makati.
Based on the bid documents of Goldilocks, each cake will cost from P266-P285, depending on the size.
The contract covers cakes to be delivered from August 15 to December 31, 2015.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
