MANILA, Philippines – TINAWAGAN ng pansin ng Commission on Audit (COA) ang Bureau of Treasury (BoT) sa pagbili nito noong 2022 ng mahigit sa P5.24 milyong halaga ng grocery items na ipinamahagi sa mga opisyal at empleyado nito sa kabila ng kakulangan ng tamang awtorisasyon.
Sa audit report ng COA, sinabi nito na ang biniling grocery items ay “unnecessarily increased the Bureau’s expenses” at ang validity o bisa ng pagbili ay hindi madetermina.
Winika ng komisyon, ang bawat BoT official at empleyado ay nakatanggap ng 22 food items na binubuo ng 25 kilogramo ng bigas, 150 gramo ng pork sausages, isang dosenang tuna flakes, 8 lata ng luncheon meat, 8 lata ng Vienna sausage, 6 lata ng corned beef, dalawang 300ml ng condensed milk, at isang litro ng vegetable oil, at iba pa.
Ang grocery items ay nagkakahalaga ng P13,205 hanggang P14,999.96 per pack.
Sinabi ng COA na natuklasan ng mga auditor nito na ang Central Office ng BoT at National Capital Region (NCR) office ay nagpalabas ng Notice of Award sa winning bidder ng grocery items noong Disyembre 29, 2022.
“The Notice to Proceed dated Jan. 10, 2023 was confirmed to by the delivery of the supply on Jan. 13. Delivery of the grocery items was completed on Jan. 25. As of May 31, the COA said that the transactions have yet to be recognized in BoT’s books,” ayon pa rin sa komisyon.
Sinabi nito na ang basehan ng procurement ay ang memorandum na ipinalabas ng Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary noong Disyembre 5, 2022. Inaprubahan ng memorandum ang kahilingan ng BoT para sa pamamahagi ng iba’t ibang food items bilang reward para sa “contributions at achievements” ng mga tauhan noong 2022.
“While we recognize the importance of the approval of the Secretary of Finance and likewise greatly acknowledge the valuable contributions of the Bureau’s 2022 achievements, hard work, and dedication in carrying out its mandate despite the various challenges, still, the memorandum issued by the Secretary is not sufficient authority for the disbursements as the President’s approval is explicitly required under Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 1597, series of 1987,” ayon kay COA.
Tinukoy ng COA ang Administrative Order (AO) No. 2, may petsang Disyembre 16, 2022, “which authorized the grant of one-time assistance at a uniform quantity of 25 kilograms of rice for each employee. But it said that instead of one sack of 25 kilogram of rice, the BoT granted four sacks of 25 kilograms of rice which was more than what was allowed in the AO.”
“Overall, the disbursements made for the grant of additional benefits to the Bureau’s personnel despite the absence of the necessary authority from the Office of the President (OP) had unnecessarily increased the Bureau’s expenses and had not provided evidence to determine the validity and propriety of the expenses incurred,” ang pahayag ng COA.
Samantala, hiniling naman nito sa BoT na magsumite ng legal authority mula sa OP bilang basehan para sa pagbibigay ng iba’t ibang grocery items at umiwas mula sa pagbibigay ng karagdagang benepisyo o allowance sa mga empleyado nito nang walang “prior approval” mula sa OP. Kris Jose
