THE Commission on Audit has set aside its 2021 order requiring provincial officials of Misamis Oriental led by former Governor Oscar Moreno to refund P41.44 million representing disallowed payment of heavy equipment rental from 2007 to 2012.
In an en banc decision, the COA noted that the basis for the disallowance – the failure of the provincial government executives to submit full documentary support for the equipment lease contracts – no longer existed after they submitted the papers as part of their Motion for Reconsideration.
While noting that the support documents are still not totally complete, the Commission noted that the movants have made “substantial compliance” hence disallowances totaling P20.9 million were lifted.
For the balance of P20.54 million, the COA said the provincial officials are likewise no longer required to refund the amount in the presence of proof that the sum was actually paid to equipment suppliers.
“Movants are not required to refund the disallowance based on the time-honored principles of unjust enrichment and quantum meruit. Under the principle of quantum meruit, a person may recover a reasonable value of the thing he delivered or the services he rendered to prevent undue enrichment on the part of the recipient,” the COA said.
COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana signed the ruling.
Based on records, auditors initially issued notices of suspension against the equipment rental transaction involving bulldozers, vibratory rollers, trailer trucks, and excavators for lack of public bidding and resorted to alternative modes of procurement or shopping.
When the provincial officials failed to submit the missing support documents, the suspension ripened to a disallowance with the attendant requirement for repayment of the amount involved.
Held liable in the 2021 decision were former Gov. Moreno, acting provincial accountant Divina Balde, provincial legal officer Cancio Nicanor Guibone, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Patrick Gabutina, BAC vice chairman Elmer Wabe, and members Rolando Pacuribot, Elsie Lopoy, Imelda Marie Beltran, and Danilo Maputol; Provincial General Services Office canvasser Leemar Tinagan, and supplier/contractors Equiprent Corp. and Earthtools Development Corp.
The adverse audit findings became the basis for criminal charges filed with the Sandiganbayan in 2018. However, the anti-graft court acquitted Moreno and the rest of his co-accused in 2023 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
However, it was during the trial of the said cases that most of the lacking documents surfaced as they were attached to the case records.
