COA flags PITC for delivering only 10% of equipment to PNP

Commission on Audit. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) for delivering only 10 percent out of all the equipment procured by the Philippine National Police (PNP) since 2016.

In an audit report of the PNP for 2018 that was released on Monday, COA noted that the PNP has transferred funds totaling to P1.347 billion since 2016.  However, only P137.4 million worth of equipment has been delivered as of December 2018 — translating to a 10 percent delivery rate in more than two years.

“Records disclosed that PNP has advanced a total of P1,347,616,452.90 to PITC from March to April of CY 2016 for the procurement of mobility, firearms and other equipment. Of the total amount transferred, only P137,489,917.60 was delivered during CY 2018 after about 16 to 26 months,” COA said in its report.

According to COA, the P1.210 billion remaining funds were supposedly for the purchase of utility trucks, automatic grenade launchers, light personnel carrier — items which could have helped the PNP in law enforcement.

On the other hand, only six kinds of items were delivered: two genetic DNA analyzers worth P99.99 million, 22 handheld dental x-rays (P20.66 million), 90 units of personal computers (P5.369 million), 27 laptops (P1.799 million), 15 pieces of 25 KVA generator sets (P5.7 million), and 40 units of 10-kVA generator sets (P9.8 million).

COA also said that the delay in delivering is in contrast to the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRR) of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Section 7.3.3 of the 2016 RIRR states that government agencies may tap other offices to conduct procurement to speed up the process.

“The low delivery rate of only 10 percent and undelivered equipment defeat the intention to which the PNP have engaged the services of PITC, that is, to facilitate the procurement process,” it added.

Aside from these issues, it was also revealed that there are P7.239-million worth of unexpended balance or unspent awarded money from completed procurement projects which have not been returned to PNP.

COA advised the PNP’s National Headquarters (NHQ) to require the Directorate for Logistics to ask PITC to deliver the other equipment within six months, or require the refund of advance payments and unused balances for deposit to the National Treasury.

The PNP said that its Directorate for Logistics has already notified PITC upon COA’s recommendation.  The PNP also said that other items, including 124 units of tactical radios worth P120.1 million were already delivered to PNP on February 15, 2019. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)