COA says CPA bus rentals "excessive"

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has recommended for the Board of Commissioners of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to make representations with shipping companies in providing transportation facilities to ferry passengers to their departing vessels.

In 2010, the CPA spent millions to pay for eight air-conditioned private buses at six hours per bus daily to transport passengers from port terminals to departing vessels.

The 2010 report of state supervising auditor Naomi Medici which was approved by COA-7 Regional Director Delfin Aguila pointed out that CPA’s hiring of buses was excessive and has violated the provisions of COA Circular No. 85-55A.

Under the circular, excessive expenditures signify unreasonable expenses incurred at an immoderate quantity and exorbitant price. 

On occasional basis since 2007, the CPA hired buses for a limited number of hours and days in a week to augment the five existing buses during passenger’s peak season.

An audit on rental expenses showed that from January to June 2009, the CPA spent P1,280,720 for bus rentals, and during this period, only 2 to 4 buses were hired every month for 3 to 4 hours daily at an average monthly rental of P213,453 for 1,180 hours.

From July to December 2009, the state auditor said the CPA rental rose to P5,236,504 for the 4,891 hours serviced, which is an average monthly rental of P872,751.

“There was an increase in monthly rental of P659,298 from last semester’s average monthly rental due to the hiring of seven buses daily,” the report read.

Furthermore, the audit of rental expenses from January to June 30, 2010 also showed that CPA pays P6,974, 856 in bus rentals, which has a monthly average of P1,162,476 for 6,302 hours.

It increased the average monthly rental by P168, 577 since December 2009, the state auditor observed.

Of the five buses, only three were functional and used in port operations while the two buses were non-operational since June 2009. COA also recommended for the management to maximize the utilization of existing CPA buses that are in good running condition as well as for the immediate repair of the defective buses in order to save on bus rental expenses.

Based on the passenger traffic yearly report for the first semester of 2010, it took them 104 trips per day to transport passengers from port terminals to departing vessels during regular season which is in February and March, and 156 trips during peak season in January, April, May and June.

But COA said that the distance from port terminals (pier1 and 3) to the departing vessels is less than 150 meters and not more than 100 meters at the 5th street in Pier 1 and 3 port terminals.

“There was more or less 50 hours in excess in the services of rented buses, net of the hours actually serviced by CPA buses, and likewise excess of 4 rented buses per day, taking into consideration the full utilization of the 3 functional CPA buses at the port,” the state auditor said in an official report.

Also, the state auditors observed that bus drivers and CPA drivers were servicing passengers of vessels with varying departing schedules which led to the excess in buses rented and hours rendered.

COA recommended for CPA to evaluate their statistics of passenger traffic report to determine the volume of passengers and the schedule of departing vessels to determine actual hours and the need for buses on a particular day and time.

The management of CPA explained that the terminal fees earned from passengers have the component of safety, security and maintenance of port facilities.

“Safety, security and convenience for the riding public is one of the thrusts of the Authority. It is for this reason that we ventured on this bus transport system to shuttle passengers to their respective vessels. This is an added amenity for the passengers, considering that we collect terminal fees from them,” CPA administrative manager Perlita Jumapao said.

The CPA management also informed COA that they already reduced bus rental expenses to P3 million from July to December 2010 by limiting the number of hours and buses hired.

“We will conduct study of what approach to adopt in order not to jeopardize the safety of the passengers,” they said. - THE FREEMAN