Mandaue gov't might return “overpriced” trucks to supplier

Mandaue City Administrator Gonzalo Malig-on yesterday announced that the city government will return to the supplier the two garbage trucks, worth a total of P21.9 million, following concerns of an alleged overpriced purchase by the previous administration.

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Malig-on, in a press conference, revealed that this was the reason the trucks remain idle and nonoperational at the Mandaue City Sports Complex parking lot since their purchase.

Mayor Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano, after his official assumption into office, ordered a review of the purchase to verify if the pricing of the two dump trucks was reasonable, said the city administrator.

Malig-on said the review subsequently found the purchase order--issued on June 26, 2025---showed that the 10-wheeler dump trucks cost P10.99 million each. “Amo’ng gitan-aw didto mura’g dili man g’yud siya tan-awon nga mura’g (almost) P11 million,” he said.

An initial market check, he said, showed that a similar unit could be bought at a price between P3 million and P6 million. He added that they also received an official quotation for a comparable unit priced at only P3.6 million. This indicates that those purchased trucks may be overpriced.

Malig-on noted that, while some additional specifications may have been included in the previous administration’s purchase—which is considered normal—the essential machinery was still similar and should not have caused the cost to exceed the P6 million threshold by millions of pesos more.

Because of these initial findings, with documents available to back them up, Malig-on, upon orders of Mayor Ouano, issued a memorandum on August 26, addressed to the Department of General Services, headed by Engineer Marivic Cabigas.

The memorandum sought clarification and evaluation on the purchase of the dump trucks, along with Malig-on’s query on the actual condition of the units, specifically whether they were brand-new.