COA flags P61.8 million system procurement

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Audit has noted various deficiencies in the procurement of the Carcar City Integrated Management Information System (CCIMIS) costing P61.8 million, thus casting doubts on the validity and regularity of the procurement process.

The city government had conducted public bidding for the procurement of CCIMIS (hardware and software) with an Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of P62 million charged against the budget of the Mayor's Office through Supplemental Budget in 2021.

The project was awarded to Cylix Technologies, Inc., with a total contract price of P61,888,888.88.

In its 2022 audit report, the Audit Team stated that review of the disbursement vouchers and the supporting documents showed deficiencies in the procurement process.

These include supplemental bid bulletins were posted at less than seven calendar days before the scheduled bid opening; post-qualification of the winning supplier was not thoroughly conducted; discrepancies in the financial component of the bids; lack of signing authority of the supplier’s representative; non-submission of the General and Special Conditions of the Contract required under the Philippine Bidding Documents; and non-issuance of Notice to Proceed (NTP).

“The foregoing deficiencies raise doubts on the validity and regularity of the procurement process, which may be prejudicial to the interest of the City Government,” the report said.

The COA recommended that the city government, through the BAC, submit the lacking documents for their evaluation, otherwise a notice of suspension or disallowance shall be issued on this transaction.

In its reply, the city government said that they substantially complied with the law as to the seven day posting; post-qualification of the winning bidder was done; as to the discrepancies on the financial components, it said it is considered as procurement of goods because such procurement is for the hardware only; and as to the non-issuance of NTP,  former BAC chairperson said that the NTP shall be issued by the Head of the Procuring Entity (HoPE) and not by the BAC, thus could not speak in behalf of the HoPE.

Food Supplies

Meanwhile, the Audit Team also noted several procurement of various food supplies totaling P5 million were not supported with distribution lists or lists of recipients/beneficiaries.

“Thus, management may find it difficult to prove the regularity of distribution and if indeed there was distribution at all of relief goods,” the COA report states.

The Audit Team said that review of the reports on sources and utilization of the DRRMF disclosed that the city disbursed a total amount of P5,087,202.65 out of the said fund for the procurement of various food supplies to be distributed to the families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-audit of the disbursement vouchers and documents disclosed that the Lists of Recipients/Beneficiaries were not among the supporting documents attached thereto. Only the signed Requisition and Issuance Slips (RIS) indicating the Purok Coordinator as the receiver of the goods issued for distribution were attached.

In the absence of these documents, the Audit Team said that the city government will find it difficult to prove that the supplies were actually distributed to the intended beneficiaries/recipients.

The Audit Team recommended that the city government, through the GSO, submit the distribution lists duly acknowledged by the actual recipients/beneficiaries so that the distributions of the food supplies procured in the total amount of P5 million to the intended beneficiaries could be duly accounted for.

The city government in their reply submitted copies of the distribution lists to the auditors for verification.

The Audit Team in their rejoinder stated that the lists have no breakdown of the items received and date when it was received thus, the completeness of the items distributed could not be ascertained. — GMR (FREEMAN)