TEN contracts with a combined value of P468.48 million awarded by the Davao City Water District (DCWD) in 2019 have been questioned by the Commission on Audit for failure to comply with provisions of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Law.
In a report released last May 15, government auditors said documents submitted by the winning bidders showed all 10 contracts were perfected way past the 10 calendar days from the issuance of the notice of award set under Section 37.2.1 of the IRR of RA 9184.
The contracts reportedly missed the deadline by 22 to 42 days which adversely affected the timetable for completion.
The audit team pinned the blame on the DCWD management for acting contrary to law even as the latter assigned the fault to the contractors.
“The delays in contract perfection had caused delays in project implementation preventing efficient delivery of services to DCWD’s customers,” the audit team said.
Among the projects cited in the audit report were the P131.88-million construction of the DCWD Parking Building; the P108.3-million pipe-laying for transmission and distribution in the Talandang Water Supply System; the P80.7-million Talandang steel reservoir Nos. 1, 2 and 3; and the P46.9-million pipeline improvement and booster pumps installation along the Calinan-Baguio-Cadalian Road.
The notices of award were issued between Jan. 15, 2019 and June 11, 2019 but not one of the contracts was actually signed within the period prescribed by law.
Commenting on the audit finding, the DCWD management said it entered into contracts with the winning bidders only upon submission of the complete documents. It also claimed some of the documents needed to undergo a thorough review and revisions before they can be approved and accepted.
Verification by the audit team, however, showed the DCWD’s assertion was unsupported by evidence.
“The BAC [Bids and Awards Committee] did not indicate the dates when they received the documents, thus the team could not verify if they were indeed submitted beyond deadline. Based on our verification… their justification on the cause of delay is not acceptable,” auditors noted.
On the other hand, all the winning bidders posted their performance securities in accordance with the terms of the notice of award and the submitted documents were prepared at an earlier date.
The COA pointed out that the contractors and the DCWD management held a pre-bid conference that should have resolved the terms and conditions of the contract and adjustment made for the parts that were not agreeable to either party.
The DCWD assured the COA that it has taken steps to correct the issue, including the holding of a customized orientation on RA 9184 to make sure of compliance with procurement timelines in future projects.
