COA: DA-7 incurred extravagant expenses

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture 7 incurred “unnecessary and extravagant expenses” when its officials paid P104,297 for hotel accommodation and food during a turnover ceremony at a high end hotel, the Commission on Audit said in its report.

Aside from this, COA said DA7 also spent another P46,802 to pay hotel bills for its guests who were billeted at the Marco Polo Plaza and Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa at P26,124 and P20,678, respectively.

The problem is, no document would reportedly identify the guests and determine if the accommodation was an official business, COA said.

Meanwhile, COA said the purchase of a wireless microphone, voice recorders and T-shirts worth P181,040 was overpriced because it was reportedly P35,860 higher than the canvass price.

The DA officials explained the high price of the wireless microphone was due to the fact that the item has state-of-the-art features compared with other ordinary wireless microphones. It was also reportedly acquired through credit.

But the state auditors argued the canvass made was on the same kind of microphone, as well as the specifications mentioned in the purchase request and on the DA’s canvass form.

Meanwhile, COA advised the DA-7 officials to impose a strict policy for their suppliers not to delay the delivery of orders otherwise it would deprive end-users of its beneficial use.

COA said records at DA-7 showed that P1.5 million-worth of transactions in 2007 were delivered only the following year.

Aside from these, the state auditors discovered that DA-7 officials failed to remit to the Bureau of Internal Revenue the P1,654,246 withholding taxes that they have collected from their employees as of last December. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO (THE FREEMAN)