STAND FOR TRUTH

Iligan residents outraged by ‘overpriced’ purchases by local gov't

Iligan residents have raised a howl  over the alleged "overpriced" purchases by the local government, which ncluded two units of hard drives worth over P142,000.

According to a report on "Stand for Truth," netizens opened the discussion on the alleged overpriced items using a 2018 Commission on Audit (COA) report that was published in 2019 as a basis.

In the report, 1,000 pieces of banana cues cost over P21,294; 20 sacks of rice were priced at P193,413; 20 pieces of ballpen cost P11,395; while 12 pieces of certificate holders cost P54,691.

The city officer of Iligan said that there were no irregularities in their purchases as what was stated in the report was summarized.

"If there are irregularities na nangyayari sa amin, the COA can file against this administration. 'Yung nakita lang nila sa annual report ng Commision on Audit nung 2018, summarized lang 'yon," Joe Pantoja said.

"For example, the worth ng banana cue, ang nakalagay dito P22,500. 'Yung banana cue, intended for 1,000 unit cost. Meron pang kasama 'yan 'yung soft drinks. Hindi lang isang araw o tatlong araw. Five days itong tina-trabaho namin kaya aabot itong snacks sa ating mga tao," he added

Meanwhile, COA Region X admitted that it did not enumerate and list all of the bought items. The agency also said that there were no overpriced purchases.

"Sa dami ng items, as much as possible, we try to make a brief and concise statement. We have working papers supporting these statements counted in the Annual Audit Report," Regional Director Celso Vocal said.

"We just state there et cetera and others. Kapag middle man 'yan medyo may kataasan talaga ang presyo," he added.

Watch the video to know more. —Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News