The former chief of staff of former Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo has been accused of bid rigging at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
In a report by Bilyonaryo, a letter was sent by several veteran DICT employees to Senate President Tito Sotto, accusing Undersecretary Christina Faye Condez De Sagon of misconduct and bid rigging.
De Sagon also serves as the chief of staff of DICT Secretary Henry Aguda.
Reports also named De Sagon as one of the members of the Angara 5, a group of officials linked to late Senator Edgardo Angara and facilitating kickbacks from budget insertions.
Based on the letter, De Sagon—along with Region 1 Director June Vincent Manuel “Direk Wikz” S. Gaudan—was accused of bid rigging in the establishment of an unused data center through the use of dummy entities and insertions in order to secure the contract.
Gaudan is linked to Lancaster Technology and Development Philippines, the supplier involved in the anomalous ₱2.4-billion laptop deal of the Department of Education three years ago.
The employees alleged that De Sagon and Gaudan conspired to manipulate the co-location facility for a data center costing several hundred million pesos, which remains unused to this day.
De Sagon allegedly intimidated DICT employees using the name of Aguda, and also altered the terms of reference to favor certain bidders.
She was also said to have pressured the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), the Technical Working Group (TWG), the BAC Secretariat, and the head of the procuring entity to allow her favored bidder to qualify, even after it had already been disqualified.
In addition, De Sagon allegedly received advance payments from suppliers involved in the eGovernment (eGov) project and the National Government Data Center (NGDC) project.
Quimbo served as representative of the 2nd District of Marikina from 2019 to 2025. She ran for Mayor of Marikina City in 2025 but lost.
Quimbo also served as vice chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations and became its chairperson after the resignation of Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co.
Quimbo was also part of the small committee where some alleged insertions in the 2025 national budget were said to have occurred.
Records show that Quimbo had four infrastructure projects in her district implemented through companies owned by controversial contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya.
These projects were awarded to companies connected to Discaya, including Great Pacific Builders and General Contractor Inc., JMLR Construction and Supply, St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp., VPR General Contractor and Construction Supply Inc., and Alpha and Omega General Contractor and Development Corp.
Quimbo also allocated P950 million to transform Marikina Polytechnic College (MPC) into a “Smart Campus.” The project went to Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation, a company linked to Co.
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