Heads must roll over P3M overstocked toilet paper, excess supplies, senators say

A group of senators on Wednesday sought the accountability of personnel responsible for overstocking on toilet paper and other logistics in the Senate, as reported by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said an investigation should be conducted by the Senate accounts committee into the COA report that the Senate had more than P3 million worth of excess and dormant office supplies in its 2016 inventory.

"It's best that this is investigated. Let's find out who did the procurement and why. That's the best thing to do now kung talagang overstocked,” Sotto said in a press briefing.

"Dapat managot ang dapat managot, ganun kasimple dahil pera ng taumbayan 'yan," he added.

Senator JV Ejercito, in a separate briefing, shared Sotto's sentiment, saying excessive procurement of supplies could hurt the integrity of the Senate.

"If the COA finds something irregular, then that has to be looked into. Some heads must roll kung talagang guilty," Ejercito said.

"Things like these have no place in the Senate because we in the Senate, we are really careful," he added. "We are very much sensitive to the pulse of the people kaya masyado kaming maingat. Kapag sinabi ng COA hindi pwede, hind pwede."

In a Facebook post, Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate accounts committee, said "someone has to be jailed" over the supposed oversupply.

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.

Office envelopes were the most in excess 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 2016 inventory worth more than P37,000. It also said that more than P1.6 million worth of supplies were either left unused or kept in stock for long periods like one to four years due to inefficient procurement planning.

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