THE Commission on Audit has granted the appeal of an engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for relief of liability over disallowed payments totaling P88.58 million to contractors and suppliers of construction materials for the farm-to-market road projects in Maguindanao in 2009.
In its 10-page decision released last week, the COA en banc upheld the validity of the notices of disallowance but said petitioner Paisal Andal should have been excluded among the persons held liable.
It noted that Andal’s signatures on the purchase orders (POs), purchase requests (PRs), and requisition and issue slips (RIS) as then Requisitioning Officer had no bearing on the cause of the issuance of the disallowance.
The audit team found discrepancies in the dates of supporting documents submitted relative to the transactions, noting that the payments appear to have been made even before the delivery of construction materials, making the transactions improbable.
Auditors noted that payments would not have been released since the late documents were mandatory as a legal basis for the preparation of the disbursement voucher.
The COA, however, gave weight to the explanation of Andal that he had no knowledge that the deliveries and payments were already made when he signed the POs, PRs, and RIS.
“This Commission opines that the issue here is not about the documents signed by Engr. Andal, but the payments made on the transactions even in the absence of the required supporting documents,” the Commission said.
As an Engineer III and requisitioning officer, the petitioner’s involvement was limited to requesting the materials needed by the plans and program of work.
The COA added that he had no participation in the public bidding or procurement of construction materials, supplies, labor, and equipment for the road projects.
“Finally, Engr. Andal cannot be held liable under the ND in the absence of any clear showing that he had conspired, consented or had knowledge of any irregularity in the transactions,” the COA added.
