COA asked to shed light on P607M projects
Is it allowed or disallowed?
Cebu Provincial Board (PB) Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez posed this question to the Commission on Audit (COA) as she sought to clarify its vague stance on the payment of contracts entered into by the Garcia administration that were implemented without PB approval.
“There was a COA finding before on the partial payment and they did not say clearly if they’re disallowing it but they said it needs board approval which means there are confusing statements that we need to verify,” Sanchez said.
“We will just ask, what’s the real score?,” said Sanchez, who chairs the PB budget committee.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III earlier said the province won’t pay the 31 contractors whose projects worth P607 million didn’t have PB approval.
Davide said the Cebu provincial government may also sue the contractors if they pursue their claims in court. He said they may even include former governor Gwendolyn Garcia as a third party since she and her officials entered into these contracts.
In an annual audit report three years ago, COA noted that “several contracts undertaken by the Cebu province worth P192.8 million” were not supported with a PB resolution.
The audit memorandum said Garcia’s administration violated Section 22 of the Local Government Code which prohibits chief executives from entering into contracts without prior authorization from its council.
Sanchez said while the COA raised the matter in 2008 and 2010, it was ignored by the previous administration. Sanchez said there was no mention of disallowing the payment to contractors.
Yesterday, Sanchez sought the guidance of COA on how to go about with “determining the legitimacy of the claims of the contractors and creditors and settle the province’s other financial obligations.”
Sanchez in a letter to COA Regional Director Alicia Malquisto also asked for an auditor to help the provincial government in handling the situation. But Sanchez said ratifying the contracts will be “difficult” since it means the Davide administration acquiesced or approved the projects even if the quality and work on them are “substandard.”
She mentioned the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) as an example, which has a pending graft case lodged before the Sandiganbayan.
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