City Hall mulls procurement office

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government is eyeing a procurement office to streamline the processes at the city hall after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged down the delay in the completion of projects.

Cebu City acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said the city government has already addressed most of the items questioned by COA in its 2023 annual audit report.

"Dili pa man nato na masulbad, but we are already doing something about it," he said.

Among the significant findings of COA was the P200 million drainage project which was bid out in 2021 yet but remains unfinished. COA has flagged the city's lack of concrete effort in its 15% mobilization which has failed to progress beyond the design stage and even long after the contract expiration.

According to Garcia, the contractor already told them that they would need the cooperation of the city to be able to lay down the design. Garcia explained that the contractor asked for the titles, tax declarations, and road networks among others to commence the civil works which the city government allegedly failed to comply.

"But definitely maningil jud ta nila sa atong advance payment nga atong gibayad nila," said Garcia.

He said they may have to check the percentage of the progress and deduct the corresponding pay. Garcia added that the contract will have to be reviewed and checked if it was not terminated.

COA also noted the city’s consistent delay in the processing of payments to suppliers ranging from 53 to 637 days. This was allegedly because of the “lengthy processes and inadequately trained personnel” handling the initial evaluation.

To address the problem, it was recommended that multiple measures such as conducting a thorough assessment of the existing process and reducing or eliminating unnecessary steps or processes should be done.

Admittedly, Garcia said the procurement process in Cebu City has been mainly wheeled by the bids and awards committee (BAC) whose members are regular employees of the Cebu City Hall.

According to Garcia, these employees who compose the BAC also have other duties to attend to at City Hall. He cited as an example acting city assessor Leizyl Calamba who sits as chairperson of the BAC-Goods.

"Ang feeling namo, makalimtan natong processing (after BAC meetings)," he said.

Garcia said is planning to establish a procurement office to monitor all the procurements of the city.

"That office will also look at the processes of these procurements," said Garcia.

As acting mayor, Garcia admitted receiving feedback from contractors who were allegedly disheartened over the bidding process and the delay in the payments.

The proposed procurement office will be tasked to streamline all the processes to immediately begin construction and to make sure that it would no longer face delays. — (FREEMAN)