Case now with Ombudsman COA disallows P5.3M medicine, supply buy

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The Provincial Legal Office (PLO) has endorsed to the Office of the Ombudsman-Western Visayas the Notice of Disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit against the P5.3-million purchase of medicines and supplies by the administration of former Governor Niel Tupas Sr.

Provincial Attorney Dennis Ventilacion said the case was forwarded last March 21 for evaluation by the regional Ombudsman.

The Notice of Disallowance, dated 3 January 2011 and signed by state auditors Nilo Castigador, the audit team leader, and Jose Cabarles, the supervising auditor, stated that there were 14 transactions for the purchase of medicines and supplies worth P5,342,100.

COA found out that the purchases from sole supplier, JVZ Drug Distribution Center in Jaro district of this city, were not done through public bidding in violation of the law on procurement, and that there was no factual basis for the emergency purchase.

The money used for the procurement of goods was the financial assistance coming from other government agencies and private sectors intended for the victims of Typhoon Frank which hit the province of Iloilo last June 21, 2008.

The procurement was done between Jan. 1, 2010 to April 29, 2010, which is two years after the occurrence of Typhoon Frank. In other words, there was no more emergency nor imminent danger to life or property to speak of when the medicines were procured, said the COA.

The COA also stated that the sealed canvass appeared to be rigged by the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to ensure awarding of the 14 contracts to the favored supplier.

The 14 split purchase orders issued to JVZ allegedly contained almost the same items and canvass documents that were issued and limited only to three suppliers: JVZ itself, Josmef Enterprises and Mark Five Marketing.

All purchase contracts were cornered by JVZ as the two other competitors were always disqualified for allegedly exceeding the approved budget for the contract.

Other reasons cited by COA were: 1) The BAC failed to prepare resolutions recommending to former Governor Tupas that the procurement should be done through Negotiated Procurement-Emergency Purchase; 2) transactions were not submitted for pre-audit pursuant to COA Circular No. 2009-002; and 3) acceptance and inspection report and delivery receipts were not submitted to COA;

The previous administration allegedly failed to follow the guidelines set in the Procurement Manual for LGUs (Volume II - Goods and Services) by not requiring the supplier to submit the Valid and Current License to Operate and the Certificates of Registration for each of the brand of medicine or medical supply offered, the COA notice further said.

COA said those it determined liable for the "irregular" transactions were the former governor, Provincial Accountant Lyd Tupas, former BAC chairman Salvador Cabaluna III, and his former members Edgar Claudio Sumido, Romeo Andig, Levy Buenavista, Corazon Estelita Beloria, Glenda Losanta, Ramie Salcedo, Antonio Muralla and Julius Tidon, and JVZ itself. (FREEMAN)