THE Commission on Audit has issued a notice of disallowance against Imus City’s procurement of 77 units of e-trikes in 2020 worth P528,000 each or a total of P40.66 million, citing numerous irregularities.
Funding for the transaction was sourced through a loan taken out by the city government from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
State auditors said the e-trikes were already eight years old at the time of delivery; not operational due to dead batteries or defective parts; and not yet registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the name of Imus.
But the biggest anomaly discovered was the release of full payment on September 28, 2021 represented by a DBP check No. 52419336 although spot inspection by the audit team showed 40 units were delivered only from December 28, 2021 to January 7, 2022.
The remaining 37 units arrived at the city’s motor pool only on March 4 to 8, 2022.
The COA said the release of full payment despite zero delivery was made possible by a bogus certification from city officials that the 77 e-trikes were inspected on November 11, 2020 and duly accepted by the General Services Officer the following day.
Auditors pointed out that the Acceptance and Inspection Report pre-dated actual delivery by almost one year.
Specifically, it identified the former city mayor and former General Services Officer as the ones who issued the certification.
A verification from the city’s official website showed the former mayor was Emmanuel Maliksi, who served from 2012 to 2022.
“Certifying or declaring that procured goods, services or projects have been delivered and accepted 100 percent complete when in fact they were not is highly irregular, and disbursement of funds as a result of the false certification can be considered irregular expenditure,” the audit team said.
Based on these irregularities, the COA issued a Notice of Disallowance dated January 16, 2023.
Records obtained by auditors showed the e-trikes were intended to be distributed to the city’s tricycle drivers who will pay for the units by cash installments but the plan never materialized.
“The e-trikes were originally intended to be loaned out to tricycle drivers but the City, as of audit date, has yet to execute the plan partly due to numerous issues on the procurement and condition of the vehicles,” the audit team noted.
