COA: P250-million lighthouse parts rotting at DOTC

MANILA, Philippines - Because of excessive procurement, spare parts worth more than P250 million for lighthouses of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) have remained unused for over a year now.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said the money used for the purchase of the equipment, which lay idle in a stockroom of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), could have been utilized for urgent needs of the government.

"Although some boxes are in the DOTC stockroom, which allegedly contain lighthouse spare parts, it is however not certain that the contents thereof are the exact items and quantity recorded in the books unless a detailed physical count is conducted," state auditors said.

COA questioned the excessive procurement of lighthouse spare parts considering that the PCG is actually refusing to accept the same because they still have at least a year's supply in their own stockroom.

"The amount of P250,456,620.00 representing the idle ATON (Aids To Navigation) equipment could have been utilized for other urgent needs of the government," the audit report stressed.

COA called on the DOTC to conduct physical inventory of all items at least once a year and to submit a report to the auditor not later than Jan. 31 of each year in order to validate their existence and condition.

Before procurement, state auditors said concerned officials should first determine the actual needs of the end-user before making purchases to avoid overstocking and occurrence of idle inventory items and "refrain from procuring new ones if there are still available items on stock."