Philippine audit authority flags P170M worth of gadgets purchased from construction firm

  MANILA – The Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged a purchase of more than P170-million worth of gadgets that a government agency bought from a construction company. On Wednesday (August 18), COA asked the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) to respond to questions on the “doubtful” purchase. DICT officials were also asked to explain why the contract was awarded to a construction company that has "doubtful technical, legal, and financial capacity”. In the 2020 Audit Report, state auditors cited the P170.27 million worth of gadgets that DICT bought from a construction firm and reportedly donated to schools amid the pandemic. The purchase from Lex-Mar General Merchandise and Contractor included thousands of laptops, pocket wi-fi and tablets. Of the total amount, P50.77 million worth of laptops, tablets, and pocket wi-fi were given to teachers and students in Pinaglabanan Elementary School in San Juan City. While P29.87 million tablets were bought for city governments of Makati and San Juan and P89.62 million worth of other tablets were also donated to the same city governments. COA said Lex-Mar General Merchandise and Contractor had insufficient funding to finance the P170 million projects. It declared assets of P44.57 million in 2019 and P25.53 million in 2018. State auditors said the supplier has "doubtful financial capacity to implement the projects" and that as a general construction company, it is not involved in the supply of gadgets. "Hence, it is doubtful whether herein supplier has legal capacity to engage in this kind of business," state auditors also said. COA also said DICT is not mandated to buy various gadgets, adding that the purchase could be an illegal expenditure. "While we sympathize with the plight of learners and teachers in this time of distance learning or online classes, a donation of government property may be considered as illegal expenditure," according to COA. ICA/Expat Media
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