COA wants raps vs. erring Ilocos Norte execs over conflict of interest

The Commission on Audit (COA) has urged the filing of appropriate charges against erring public officials of the Ilocos Norte government for allowing a private individual to join procurement activities despite his potential conflict of interest.

"We recommended that erring parties be filed with appropriate legal charges for the offenses committed in violation of Section 13.4.c of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act)," state auditors said in its 2017 audit report on the province.

Representatives from non-government organizations and the private sector are invited to observe bidding processes under RA 9184, but they are required to recuse themselves in case they have a stake in a certain contract.

According to COA, the provincial government invited a certain Engr. Remy Cadiente, a member of the Laoag-Ilocos Norte Associate of Contractors, to observe the conduct of bidding processes for five infrastructure projects as a non-government organization representative.

The COA did not state the amount of the projects in its audit.

The COA, however, found that Cadiente is the owner of Remar Construction which happened to successfully secure two contracts — the improvement of Batac City Plaza and construction of a concrete pavement in the town of Bacarra — during the bidding proposals.

“It is significant to note that an observer is allowed access to confidential documents not provided to prospective bidders giving undue advantage to the above mentioned NGO representative/bidder, thus, may affect the integrity of the procurement process,” the COA said.

The chairman of Ilocos Norte's Bids and Awards Committee had justified that he has no intention of disregarding procurement rules and informed the COA of his adherence to the guidelines regarding the invitation of NGO observers.

Drug purchases

The COA also flagged the supposed preference of Ilocos Norte to CN Medical Distributor for the purchase of drugs and medicines worth a total of P17.9 million.

The COA questioned why there was no consolidation of the purchase in the province's annual procurement plan, saying the split in the contract plus its award to a lone supplier may be the result of a lack of a public bidding.

"The practice of undertaking the procurement on a per purchase request basis resulted in the tedious and inefficient procurement process. Further, we have observed that all procurement contracts were awarded to a lone bidder, CN Medical Distributor, which may indicate that there was a lack of competition in the bidding conducted," it said.

The Ilocos Norte management justified the purchase, which it said were bought at various periods depending on hospital needs and went through public bidding.

Incidentally, the COA raised the same medicine purchase Ilocos Norte made with CN Medical Distributor on its findings of fabricated invitations to bid (ITB) for supplies worth P18.8 million in 2016.

It said Ilocos Norte used the ITB reference numbers of other government agencies for its procurement of medicines, tarpaulins, and construction materials. — MDM, GMA News