OVP tight-lipped on COA report; tells Castro to hold off ‘speculations’ 

CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE The Office of the Vice President under Vice President Sara Duterte (right) has set up nine satellite offices around the country, including this one in Cauayan City, Isabela, to make its services accessible to the people. —Inday Sara Duterte FB Page/SENATE PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday continued to decline comment on the Commission on Audit (COA) findings, instead focusing on responding to ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro’s criticism.

Castro brought attention to the OVP’s purported shortcuts in the procurement procedure, as highlighted by COA. Since Monday, reporters have persistently sought the OVP’s reaction to the COA report.

Responding to Castro’s critique on Tuesday, the OVP promptly issued a statement on the very same day.

READ: Solon to grill OVP over procurement law snub

“For the information of the public and the education of Castro and ACT Teachers Party-list, OVP has maintained an unqualified opinion on its financial statements, and COA did not issue any notice of suspension or disallowance against OVP,” the OVP said in a statement to the media.

After she said there would be a probe into the Office’s procurements, the OVP focused on responding to Castro.

“The Office of the Vice President would like to disabuse the imagination of ACT Teachers Party-list and the insinuation that the procurement of OVP Satellite Office equipment amounting to P668,197.20, the cost of which was validated by Commission on Audit and eventually passed the audit, was mired in corruption,” it said.

“The COA findings and recommendations should be enough to disappoint ACT Teachers Party-list, and if only France Castro read the COA papers, it would have saved them the time and the energy to conjure wild speculations about OVP spending,” the OVP added.

However, when pressed for further comment on the COA, the OVP has yet to respond.

The COA said that the OVP failed to follow procurement rules after it immediately built Satellite Offices nationwide.

“Our audit disclosed that OVP failed to fully observe the processes and procedures required under RA No. 9184 and its IRR in the purchase of its PPE and Semi-Expendable Equipment in SOs totaling P668,197.20,” said the COA report.

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JPV/abc