PUP funds wasted on TVs, phones–COA

The state-run Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) made “unnecessary” purchases of communication and security equipment that jacked up its bills instead of reducing them last year, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

In its 2011 report, the COA said PUP should have thought twice about spending P17.84 million particularly for a video conferencing system which included 23 videophones and 23 units of 32-inch Sony Bravia LCD TVs which were programmed and installed on its 19 campuses nationwide.

The upgrade was supposedly meant to improve communication and collaboration among the PUP campuses and lower communication expenses, but state auditors reported that it had the opposite effect.

The expenses rose from P7.608 million in 2010 to P8.327 million in 2011, COA noted.

“The lack of proper planning and the absence of the terms of reference failed to establish the cost benefit analysis on the need to purchase the communication equipment amounting to P17,840,000 for video conferencing and security system project, expenditures which appeared unnecessary,” it said.

No need for LCDs

The audit agency also said the video phones bought by the university already had their own monitors, so there was no need to buy LCD TVs to serve as additional monitors.

“Before the procurement was made, PUP knew that the video phones had built-in monitors. Thus, this office believes that it should not have purchased the said equipment if what it needed was a big monitor,” it said.

It also said the P17.8-million system it bought included a P6.44-million service fee for three years, which has to be renewed in 2013 for another three years so that it could have continuous service. This would further increase PUP’s communication expenses.

The COA also pointed out that PUP already had 73 phone lines and one trunk line for its campuses that it could use to communicate at cheaper rates.

“Besides, the use of traditional phone lines does not need Internet connection while it offers a quick, convenient and effective communication access from one person to another including a three-party conferencing despite the absence of visual images,” it said.

It noted that some of the video phones could not be used on the PUP campuses in Maragondon, Cavite province, and in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, since they don’t have Internet connections. The equipment thus remained idle, wasting P373,333 worth of service fees.

On other campuses where the Internet connection was slow, the video reception was poor, it added.

The COA report asked the PUP administration to be more careful in its purchases so as not to waste public money.

But in its response to the COA report, the PUP administration under then president Dante Guevarra argued that the purchase of the LCD TVs did not duplicate the function of the videophone monitors.

Business world practice

It said a videophone could only be used when talking to one person. But in a conference, its built-in monitor could not clearly show the many participants, thus the need for an LCD TV that could be attached to the videophone.

“This practice is not unusual in the business world where corporate executives make use of a big screen LCD TV to view the person or persons they talk to during a videoconference,” the school told the COA.

Videophones could be also used in an auditorium setup wherein they are linked to an LCD projector to magnify the images. This was done during the PUP Technology Festival in 2010 and 2011, which linked other PUP campuses to the main school in Sta. Mesa, Manila, it said.

The PUP student regent expressed surprise over the COA report.

“I can’t believe it. We’ve been calling for higher state subsidy because if you will look around the campus, we don’t even have decent toilets and the North Wing building has no electricity from the 3rd to 6th floor,” Helen Alfonso told the Inquirer Thursday.

Alfonso said the P735-million budget of the PUP, which covers the main Sta. Mesa campus and its extensions, was not enough for its 40,000 students.

Albert Guillo, PUP vice president for human resource management and a member of the bids and awards committee, explained that the purchase of videoconferencing equipment was an offshoot of the Student Information System initiated in 2008.

The SIS was implemented so that students could enroll online, while the videoconference system was used for the technical management of the SIS, Guillo said.

“If there are technical problems, the management can easily call for IT assistance instead of sending an email, which you still need to type. And what if the other person didn’t check the email?” Guillo said.

“So now the communication is instantaneous without long distance charges because the call runs on the Internet,” he said.

He said administration, now headed by president Emmanuel de Guzman, found the system useful in coordinating with other campus directors.