THE Bacoor City government paid out P292.414 million on the procurement of goods and services in relation to its COVID-19 response last year but government auditors said the transactions violated provisions of RA 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act covering documentation.
In its 2020 report on the city, the Commission on Audit said the contracts will be issued notices of suspension or disallowance unless the supporting documents are completed.
“We recommended that the City Mayor required the City Accountant to coordinate with responsible officials to facilitate the immediate submission of lacking documents and/or correction of deficiencies …to prevent suspension or disallowance of the transactions,” the audit team said.
The city government under Mayor Lani Mercado Revilla said the accounting office and other concerned offices have expedited compliance with the COA directive to submit the necessary transaction records.
It also vowed that no further disbursement vouchers would be processed and approved unless fully backed by the required set of documents.
Among the official papers found lacking were the original Omnibus Sworn Statements of the suppliers, business/mayor’s permits, and net financial contracting capacity.
Other papers not attached to the disbursement vouchers were purchase orders, purchase requests, price quotations, official receipts/sales invoices/delivery receipts, inspection and acceptance reports, notice of wards, and notice to proceed.
“These deficiencies and the inability of the city government to attach the necessary documents cast doubt on the validity and propriety of the disbursements,” auditors said.
In a separate funding, the audit team said the city’s distribution of P156.06 million worth of welfare/relief goods did not comply with COA Circular Nos. 2014-002 and 2015-009 that require proper monitoring and recording of costs under the correct accounts.
Auditors said the costs of relief goods were recorded as outright expenses under Other Operating Expenses instead of under Inventory Account — Welfare Goods for Distribution.
They noted that the responsibility for properly recording the purchases of welfare goods belong to the city accountant.
In addition, the city government failed to submit adequate proof that the relief supplies reached the intended beneficiaries.
“Audit of the pertinent disbursement vouchers and supporting documents disclosed the absence of lists of recipients or summary of household per barangay, schedule of distribution of relief goods and content of food packs, thus it could not be determined if the relief goods were completely distributed,” the COA added.
