By Lester Neil Rustia

PHOTO: Amazon News

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang Palace Spokesman Harry Roque has denied the alleged connection of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to the rumored election bid of F2 Logistics.

On July 27, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) special bids and awards committee (SBAC) declared F2 Logistics as the bidder with the lowest calculated bid for the P1.61 billion project for the transport of 2022 national election supplies, besting three other firms that qualified out of eight participating companies.

F2 Logistics is a Parañaque City-based company that is a subsidiary of Udenna Corporation, of which Davao tycoon Dennis Uy is the chairman and president as of April 2021.

In the previous national election, Uy was the fourth largest campaign donor to Duterte’s 2016 presidential bid, with a contribution of around P30 million.
 
“Wala pong kinalaman ang Presidente d’yan,” Roque said in a press briefing.



The spokesperson already clarified that only the Comelec has the “sole power to conduct elections,” including the award of contracts. 

Uy is perceived as an ally of the current administration by the poll watchdog Kontra Daya. 

However, the Comelec said on Wednesday that they are checking the concerns of Kontra Daya in which it already claimed that the firm’s ties with Uy was a “red flag.”

Kontra Daya insisted that “awarding the transport bid to a publicly known Duterte crony is unacceptable and making him responsible for an important election task is unconscionable.”

The Comelec said that F2 Logistics will undergo a post-qualification process before it officially bags the contract. 


Report sources: ABS-CBN News, Rappler