By Raymund Antonio
The purchase of several Kyocera supplies for her office equipment was “valid, legal and free from any irregularity,” Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo said.
Vice President Leni Robredo denies accusations made by Peter Advincula aka Bikoy during a press conference in Quezon City. (Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
Robredo fired back at Twitter user @iam_kenmikaze after he claimed the Office of the Vice President “created a PO (purchase order) for several printers toners that are almost 200 percent of the price.”
His post featured an image of the PO that showed the OVP purchased 20 pieces of toner TK-174 for P5,880 each from Philcopy Corporation. He compared it to the discounted price of the same office supply from the Lazada website at P1,500.
“Pa-simpleng patong (This is a simple case of cost padding),” he tweeted.
The Vice President belied his claim on her Facebook page, where she posted a copy of the distributorship agreement of Philcopy Corp., a supplier to government offices like the OVP, with Kyocera.
“They are the only legal source of the Kyocera supplies needed for the OVP's equipment,” Robredo said, referring to the supplier.
Under the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9184, items sold by an exclusive dealer or manufacturer may be procured via direct contracting, she explained.
Robredo has been a victim of several online posts, most of which were “fake news.” These included her personal life and supposed involvement in the ouster plot against President Duterte.
Addressing Kenmikaze’s claim on Twitter, the lady official said it was another attempt to malign her office after it received the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit for 2018.
“Last week, it was all over the news that we were awarded by COA its highest audit rating. Eto sagot nila (This is their response), in an obvious attempt to discredit us,” she said in another Facebook post.
“We will no longer allow disinformation to flourish lalo na dahil pinaghihirapan ng mga kawani ng OVP ang ano man na naabot ng aming opisina ngayon,” Robredo added.
(We will no longer allow disinformation to flourish, especially because the OVP staff worked hard for what our office has achieved.)