FORMER Police Col. Henry Duque, erstwhile acting chief of the Procurement Division, Logistics Support Service of the Philippine National Police, has been relieved of liability relative to the P71.76 million disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) in relation to the purchase of new helicopters in 2009 and 2010 that turned out to be hand-me-downs.
In a 12-page decision, the COA en banc voted 2-1 to grant Duque’s appeal seeking exclusion from liability under the Notice of Disallowance (ND) issued in 2012.
COA chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba and Commissioner Mario G. Lipana lifted the disallowance against Duque on the ground of insufficiency of evidence that he acted willfully or negligently to cause injury to the government.
The Technical Audit Specialist (TAS) that looked into the procurement contract had reported that the cost of the brand new R44 Raven II helicopters at the time was P33.219 million, while each of the two R44 Raven 1 choppers had a tag price of P17.848 million, if brand new.
However, the PNP paid the supplier P104,985,000 for all three after the PNP Bids and Awards Committee opted against conducting a public bidding, a move that was approved by the PNP leadership.
The COA TAS said while the PNP paid P71.766 million for the two R44 Raven I choppers that turned out to be second-hand, their appraised value was only P11.377 million each, or P22.75 million combined.
In clearing Duque of any liability, the COA en banc said there was no conclusive evidence showing that the police officer was aware that two of the three choppers were not brand new as he had no opportunity to inspect them.
Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc dissented from the majority ruling, noting that it was Duque, among all the PNP officer held liable, who certified that the purchase price for the three Light Police Operational Helicopters was “reasonable and fair.”
“PSupt. Duque’s liability should have been sustained. His certification provides that the price of helicopters in the total amount of P104,985,000 is fair and reasonable despite the fact that such amount is excessive,” Pondoc pointed out.
Based on the review of the transaction by a Special Audit Team, even if all three choppers were brand new, their total cost should have been only P68,916,151.74 hence his certification was wrong and excessive.
“The price he certified as fair and reasonable is the actual total acquisition cost paid by the PNP. There was no showing that the PNP conducted a separate study to determine the reasonable price of the three helicopters, only PSupt. Duque’s certification supported the said excessive purchase price,” Pondoc added.
