COA questions Sandigan’s purchase of 10 vehicles

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan’s purchase of 10 new vehicles worth P14.9 million in 2017 despite the previous purchase of 10 other vehicles worth P13.7 million that were defective.

In an audit report posted on its website yesterday, the COA said that as of Dec. 31, 2017 the Sandiganbayan has a total of 37 vehicles worth P54.701 million. 

Of these, the COA said, only 24 units worth P38.784 million were being used while 10 units worth P13.712 million were either idle or defective and three other units worth P2.205 million were “for disposal.”

“During the physical count of the motor vehicles conducted in January 2018, we noted that there were 10 motor vehicles that were defective or left idle/not assigned to any office or official of the court,” the COA report read.

“This resulted apparently from the purchase of 10 new motor vehicles, which were issued to some of the court’s justices in October 2017 in place of the old units surrendered to the Property and Supply Division,” it added.

It was not indicated in the audit report the total amount of the 10 brand new vehicles purchased by the Sandiganbayan last year. 

But a Notice of Award posted on the Sandiganbayan website states that the contract for the purchase of 10 units of Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) 4x2 was awarded to Diamond Motor Corp. Fairview branch for “being the lowest calculated and responsive bidder that submitted its bid that passed eligibility and technical requirements.”

The Notice of Award was dated Aug. 10, 2017 and was signed by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.

The COA said that of the 10 old vehicles that remain idle at the Sandiganbayan premises, two were intended for use of newly appointed justices, while another two were replacements for the service vehicles used by court personnel for official operations.

The COA said the remaining six vehicles worth P8.474 million have no specified purpose and were not used, contrary to Section 79 of Presidential Decree 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.

Section 79 of PD 1445 mandates the “destruction or sale” of unserviceable government properties.

“Under-utilization of these vehicles may indicate excessive units and may not justify the purchase of new ones,” the COA said.

The COA said the Sandiganbayan management has already agreed to the audit team’s recommendation to examine the conditions of the idle vehicles.

The COA said that if the vehicles are found to be no longer serviceable or needed by the court, then the Sandiganbayan’s chief Administrative Division/Property Officer must work on their sale or auction in accordance with PD 1445.

In a comment, incorporated in the audit report, the Sandiganbayan Property and Supply Section said that of the remaining six idle vehicles, two more will be issued to new justices, while the remaining four units shall be subject to the presiding justice’s determination “as to whether these may be reissued in favor of the most senior Heads of Divisions, or to be disposed of in coordination with the Committee on Disposal and Inventory.”