Lorenzana orders stop to DND rest rooms’ renovation after COA flags expenditure

Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana on Monday ordered the removal of air conditioning units in comfort rooms that were questioned by the Commission on Audit (COA), the Department of National Defense said.

In a press statement, the DND said Lorenzana also directed the discontinuance of the renovation project of the comfort rooms located in the basement as well as on the ground floor to third floor in the South Wing area of the DND building.

"The COA is the body that evaluates if the people’s money is spent wisely. It does not mean that if a project has been approved by Congress, the COA can no longer audit it according to its mandate. It can disallow it or it can raise a red flag that the money has not been used properly," Lorenzana said.

State auditors have flagged the DND for unnecessarily spending over P553,000 on the air-conditioned comfort rooms.

The COA said such expenses for the renovation/remodeling of the comfort rooms violated the procurement law, among others, which requires that government resources be “safeguarded against loss or wastage through illegal or improper disposition, with a view to ensuring efficiency, economy and effectiveness in the operations of government.”

“Based on the foregoing information, each Male and Female Comfort Room may cost up to P1,582,727.05, while each PWD Comfort Room may also cost up to P176,322.66 which in our view is deemed impractical and uneconomical and considered unnecessary expenditures,” the COA said in its report. — BM, GMA News