COA questions P3.4B PNP purchases

MANILA, Philippines–State auditors have found irregularities in the procurement by the Philippine National Police, and its Special Action Force (SAF), of various supplies and equipment worth nearly P3.4 billion during the tenure of PNP Director General Alan Purisima, who resigned last month over the Mamasapano debacle.

In the Mamasapano operation where 44 SAF members were killed on Jan. 25, the PNP Board of Inquiry found, among other things, that several 40-mm grenades for M203 grenade launchers were defective and some radios were unreliable.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said in its annual audit report for 2013 that the PNP national headquarters (NHQ), the SAF, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and other police regional offices had violated the government procurement law, “casting doubt on the validity of the procurement transactions.”

The COA said there were “deficiencies” in the PNP procurement program as it did not comply with the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, the Government Procurement Act.

The COA, however, did not specifically mention the defective items and supplies that the PNP units had purchased.

Among the questionable transactions uncovered by the government auditors was the purchase of P91.7-million worth of goods and services without a public bidding by the NHQ, SAF and Police Regional Office (PRO) 13.

“[The] 113 purchase orders/work orders each exceeding P500,000 were not done through public bidding but through the alternative method of ‘shopping’ in violation of RA 9184,” the COA said.

“Also, the PRO 13 procurement for the supply of military and police equipment and its payment through cash advances was not in accordance with [the] COA circular,” it added.

It said Camp Crame, the NCRPO, SAF and eight other PROs failed to submit copies of contracts, purchase orders and work orders covering almost P2.2-billion worth of projects within the required period of five working days.

The state auditors also noted that the police officials tasked with receiving the purchased supplies failed to inform the COA of the scheduled deliveries within a 24-hour period.

The COA said the PNP-NHQ’s purchases in the amount of P463 million were covered by 654 disbursement vouchers that were “not complete.”

It also found deficiencies in 68 purchase orders for P47-million worth of equipment bought by Camp Crame, which raised “doubts on the validity of the transactions.”

The COA said various police units also bought “common-use supplies” amounting to P112 million from private suppliers, instead of acquiring them through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.

In their reply to the COA’s audit observations, the PNP units pledged to strictly comply with the provisions of RA 9184 as recommended by the state auditors.

For its part, the NCRPO said it would conduct bidding when buying supplies worth more than P500,000.

“As to the transactions done by shopping, they (NCRPO) explained that the procurement was done due to the urgency of the need for the procured goods and services,” the COA said.

The NCRPO also explained that “not all items of common-use supplies are available from the Procurement Service–DBM and that is the reason why they have to purchase from local dealers.”