COA raises red flags in Pagcor’s ‘Matuwid Na Daan Sa Silid Aralan’ project

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) has red-flagged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for its lapses in implementing the “Matuwid Na Daan Sa Silid Aralan” project.

In a COA report of Pagcor for 2018, the expected target of 457 classrooms worth P714.496 million were not completed within the deadline.

“Only 6,471 or 93.40 percent classrooms were completed and the remaining 457 classrooms or 6.60 per cent were still either under construction or at [the] procurement and planning stage,” read the COA report.

Upon verification, COA revealed that 6.6 percent or 457 of the 6,928 classrooms should be finished by December 31, 2017 but are still incomplete as of January 31, 2019.

State auditors likewise said there was no written agreement that allows the extension for completing the classrooms.

The commission also spotted Pagcor’s failure to construct 211 classrooms with a total cost of P393.450 which resulted in “abandonment by the contractors of the project.”

COA also noted the non-liquidation of P1.189 billion funds released by PAGCOR to implementing agencies including the Department of Education and Department of Public Works and Highways.