P13.2B infra projects done in violation of gov’t procurement law – COA

MANILA, Philippines — Some P13.2 billion worth of infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were implemented in 2014 despite violations of the government procurement law, a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed.

State auditors also discovered that P34 billion in capital outlay had remained “unobligated” due to the failure of the office of Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson to make use of the funds in financing much-needed public infrastructure.

Critics of President Aquino had assailed his administration for government underspending, claiming Malacañang was intentionally withholding public funds in time for the 2016 elections.

“The existence of unobligated allotments indicates that the DPWH-OSEC (Office of the Secretary) failed to maximize its authorized budgetary allocations,” the COA said in its audit report.

“(T)hus, utilization of the authorized budget was not maximized,” it added.

Records showed that the DPWH had a total allocation of P121 billion in 2014 as stated in the General Appropriations Act, which the Congress had approved.

However, the department only received P97 billion from the Department of Budget and Management. Of this amount, P63 billion went to various infrastructure projects nationwide while the rest was unutilized.

The state audit body said the DPWH failed to maximize its budget due to the delays in the implementation of the approved projects.

It said P33 billion of the unobligated funds, or about 97 percent of the amount, intended for capital outlay, were “not utilized due to delayed/non-implementation of programmed projects.”

“Out of the 390 projects scheduled to be implemented in 2014 by DPWH-OSEC, we noted delays in the implementation of 70 projects while 103 were not implemented,” the COA said.

Moreover, the COA found that 749 infrastructure projects of 44 DPWH field offices in the amount of P10.3 billion were not completed within the contract period.

It said 253 other approved projects worth P959 million were not undertaken at all “due to deficient planning and supervision.”

Said the COA: “The basic consideration of the government for entering into a contract is the completion of the infrastructure project within a stipulated time so that the intended social and economic benefits may be enjoyed on time by the public.”

“(T)he intended beneficiaries of these on-going and unimplemented projects were deprived of their immediate use. Other government agencies also suffered setback in the delivery of basic social services due to the absence of these infrastructures,” it added.

The COA asked the DPWH to make the most of its budget by “ensuring prompt initiation of the procurement process and timely implementation of projects so as to prevent accumulation of unobligated allotments.”

In its reply, the DPWH explained that its projects had been hampered by issues concerning road right of way, delays in the bidding and in the submission of “detailed engineering.”

It said it was also having problems securing clearances from Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and local government units.

According to the COA, several projects of DPWH field offices did not comply with Republic Act No. 9184, more known as the Government Procurement Reform Act, and its implementing rules and regulations.

Some of the violations noted by the COA was the splitting of contracts, failure of contractors to pay the construction bond, sudden change in designs to “cover up” structural defects, violations in the bidding process and non-submission of required documents.

Among the DPWH projects found to have violated the procurement law was the P627.5-million road construction in Pangasinan whose contractor failed to put up a billboard showing the project details.

The COA also questioned two DPWH programs worth P249 million in Bataan province whose contractors did not have the “necessary equipment” to complete the projects.

It said the deficiencies during the “bidding and post-qualification process also resulted in awarding of contracts to bidders with inadequate bid documents.”

“The non-compliance with the pertinent provisions of the (law) runs counter to the principle of transparency, efficiency and economy in the procurement process,” the COA said.

The state audit agency urged the DPWH to order its field offices to the observe the provisions of the law “in all stages of the procurement of infrastructure projects and goods to ensure transparency, efficiency and economy in the procurement process.”

“The audit teams concerned considered the justifications given by management, but maintain that the lapses noted were in violation of the (law) thus may be subjected to further audit actions if no corrective measures are undertaken,” the COA said.  SFM