COA sees ‘irregularity’ in DepEd uniform deal

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Audit discovered splitting of contracts in the purchase of uniforms for Talisay City's representatives to a regional sports meet.

COA said the splitting of contracts for the purchase of uniforms for Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association players is strictly prohibited under Section 54.1 of RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act).

In the latest COA report, the city government was found to have disbursed P469,120 in payment to Panalay Tailoring for the parade and playing uniforms of CVRAA athletes from the Department of Education-Talisay City Division. The funds were taken from the Special Education Fund for calendar year 2014.

But COA noticed that the transactions were split into three, and appeared to be have been done "to keep the transactions below the threshold for shopping and small value procurement of P400,000."

Based on the checks issued to the tailoring firm, the city disbursed the payments on April 16, 2014; April 24, 2014; and May 12, 2014.

COA said the law guards against any kind of splitting of contracts that would circumvent the procurement requirements.

Section 65 of the GPRA states that public officers who commit acts like "splitting of contracts which exceed procedural purchase limits and competitive bidding" could face imprisonment of at least six years and temporary disqualification from public office.

According to COA, all items were under Program of Work (POW) No. 14-01-05, which totaled P593,780, and were requested by then Local School Board head, city district supervisor Woodrow Denuyo. 

COA said the items requested in the POW were later broken down to individual items and purchase requests in order to avoid competitive public bidding.

COA advised the administration of Mayor Johnny De los Reyes to stop the practice of splitting purchase requisitions or contracts. Doing this, it added, will promote effective competition and transparency in the procurement process and obtain a fair and equitable contract for the best interest of the government.

On February 2, 2015, the COA already relayed to the city government its observation during the audit. The city government, for its part, promised to comply with the recommendation of the state auditors.  (FREEMAN)