Senate had P3-M excess, dormant office supplies in 2016 —COA

The Senate had more than P3 million worth of excess and dormant office supplies in its inventory in 2016, which the Commission on Audit (COA) said was a waste of public funds.

In a report, the COA said P1.4 million of the total excess were office supplies overstocked from its quarterly requirement, the bulk of which is composed of toner and ink cartridges amounting to P260,749.45 and P257,586.32, respectively.

The Senate also had excess markers worth P206,336.38 and AA batteries worth P152,058.17.

Office envelopes had the most excess quantity with more than 25,700 items in storage, followed by folders at 17,750 items, and markers at 14,120 items.

The COA report further noted that the Senate had a total excess of 6,392 rolls of tissue paper in its inventory worth more than P37,000.

The agency emphasized that the procurement of supplies in government offices should not exceed the three-month requirement.

The purchase of critical supplies and equipment spare parts, meanwhile, can only be increased in cases of emergencies as approved by the heads of agencies concerned.

"Wastage of government assets from overstocking and obsolescence of inventories could have been prevented had procurement of supplies and materials have been properly planned and periodic assessment of inventory movements been undertaken to ascertain the required quantity of items for stocking," COA said.

Excessive procurement

Meanwhile, the COA report said more than P1.6 million worth of supplies were either unissued or laid dormant in the Senate for one to four years due to inadequate procurement planning.

"The existence of excessive and non-moving or dormant inventories is attributed to inadequate planning or procurement of supplies and materials, and the absence of periodic assessment of inventory movements to ensure that the items procured for stocking are just in the required quantity," it said.

The audit also found that the Senate tends to purchase in big quantities "despite the significant number of the beginning balances of some items."

More than half of the cost came from printer supplies, including almost P900,000 worth of toner cartridges and P168,000 worth or ribbon cartridges.

The list also includes more than P127,000 worth of maintenance kits, P91,000 worth of ink refills, and about P70,000 in ink cartridges.

Upon verification, however, the COA report said some equipment in the Senate are no longer operational or have been replaced by new units, while some have become obsolete due to the shift from manual to automated paper-less systems.

COA has recommended to the Senate to "ensure that the procurement of supplies and materials shall not exceed the three-month requirement of the office through proper planning and conduct of periodic review of actual utilization and quantity available for issuance, to avoid wastage of resources."

Reached for his comment, Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III vowed to look into the matter immediately.

"Will look into that ASAP. We should not waste money and resources. Will get more details first. Also, I will find out who made the decisions which allowed this overstocking," Pimentel said in a text message to reporters. — with Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/ALG/RSJ, GMA News