THE Commission on Audit has ordered the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) to pay the claim of a supplier for unpaid deliveries of cardiovascular products during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A decision by the COA En Banc granted the petition filed by Biodevices Inc. against the PHC although the amount was reduced to P27.517 million from P28.14 million.
COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana held that Biodevices is entitled to compensation for completing deliveries despite the absence of a valid consignment agreement (CA).
Records showed the supplier had been delivering cardiovascular products and pacemakers to PHC from 2017 to 2020, covered by various consignment agreements.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the CAs were not issued starting March 2020 although Biodevices did not interrupt deliveries.
The PHC management admitted that it used the delivered items on patients and acknowledged liability for non-payment.
“Although the deliveries were not supported with a valid and existing CA, this Commission finds that Biodevices should be compensated for the delivered items utilized and paid for by PHC patients inasmuch as the conditions of a valid consignment are present,” the COA said.
The commission said it did not grant the balance of P626,000 for deficient documentation as the PHC admitted it did not maintain a separate account for the payment received from patients that received the pacemakers and heart valves.
