DILG causes delays in biddings of BFP’s P3.8-B procurement contracts —COA

The Commission on Audit (COA) blamed the alleged unwarranted meddling of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the delays in the biddings of various procurement contracts of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) aimed to modernize its equipment and facilities.

 

In a 2014 audit report on the BFP recently published by COA on its website, the state audit body said the DILG has violated Section 11 of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act by taking over the procurement process for the implementation of the BFP’s modernization program.

 

“The BFP’s vision of a modern fire protection agency…and its mandate of providing adequate firefighting gears, equipment and adequately equipped fire stations are far from being realized due to the intervention of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the procurement process of the Bureau which is not in accordance with Section 11 of RA 9184,” the COA said in its report.

 

The COA pointed out that under Section 11 of RA 9184, each procuring entity, in this case, the BFP, shall be the one to establish and constitute its own Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) which shall oversee the procurement process.

 

The COA said the BFP’s procurement deals suffered a setback for more than two years after the DILG took over the bidding process in 2012.

 

In its Department Order 2013-12 dated January 8, 2012, the DILG took over the process to bid out various contracts for the BFP’s modernization program due to allegation of irregularities in previous biddings held by the bureau in 2011.

 

“In dire need of equipment and considering the increase in the number of fire incidents, the BFP made several follow-ups to the DILG on the status of the procurement of fire trucks, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and personal protective equipment (PPE)… [as well as] the construction/renovation of 516 fire stations,” the COA report said.

 

The COA noted that despite several inquiries made by the BFP regarding the status of the procurement, the DILG Bids and Awards Committee allegedly sat on the bidding process.

 

Based on COA’s records, the national government has allocated a total fund of P3,861,102,675 for the BFP’s modernization program.

 

This amount was broken down as follows:

 

 

“The BFP has been exerting effort in the procurement of firefighting gears and equipment and the construction of fire stations nationwide. Like in previous years, the bureau was not able to procure these much needed equipment due to the intervention of DILG in the procurement process,” the COA said in its report.

 

The COA said it was only on July 22, 2014 that the DILG-BAC issued a resolution turning over back to the BFP the bidding for the fire truck deal saying “the BFP has the technical expertise in the subject procurement.”

 

The COA said the BFP immediately published an invitation to bid in national newspapers in August 2014, held a pre-bid conference in the following month, and formally opened the bidding on October 17, 2014.

 

The COA, however, noted that as of the end of 2014, not a single fire truck has been delivered to the BFP.

 

Meanwhile, the audit body said it was only on March 16, 2015 that the DILG returned to the BFP the authority to conduct bidding for the construction and/or renovation of the 516 fire stations.

 

“Inquiry further disclosed that due to lack of material time, the DILG was not able to procure the firefighting gears, PPE and SCBA equipment,” the COA report also said.

 

The COA said the DILG-BAC just recommended the transfer of the BFP’s procurement funds to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) to prevent the reversion of the funds to the Bureau of Treasury.

 

The COA auditors noted that as of December 31, 2014, the BFP has already turned over to PS-DBM over P445.336 million funds, of which, P73.85 million has been outstanding since 2011 for the procurement of various equipment.

 

The COA report said that up to now, the PS-DBM has not delivered any equipment to the bureau.

 

Among the much-delayed items for procurement that the COA report cited were 9,000 pairs of fire boots, 6,741 helmets, 7,628 pairs of protective mittens, nozzles, fire hoses, spare parts for broken down fire trucks and office computers.

 

The COA noted that of the 861 firefighters of BFP in 2014, there were only a total of 188 self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) and 784 fire-protected boots.

 

The COA report said there is also a shortage of 1,538 fire trucks while 426 municipalities in the country still do not have fire stations.

 

GMA News Online was trying to get a reaction from the DILG as of posting time. —KG, GMA News