Anti-Poverty Commission spent P8M for ‘unnecessary’ consultants – COA

The Commission on Audit (COA) has criticized the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) for spending P8 million on consultants regarded unnecessary by state auditors.

State auditors stated in their annual audit report that the NAPC’s hiring of consultants did not comply with posting requirements to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), in violation of the Procurement Law and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRR).

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In addition, COA stated that the total expenditures for paying consultants exceeded the total budget shown in the agency’s Annual Procurement Plan (APP) for 2021, which is also against the requirements of the Procurement Law and its RIRR. This denied the government the best deal and led to the doubtful payment of transactions, according to COA.

“The total budget for consultancy services as provided on the APP of the agency totaled only P300,000 for 2021 while total disbursements incurred for the year was P8,219,636. The procurement of consulting services, either through an individual consultant or a consultancy firm, is covered by the provisions of RA 9184 and its RIRR. As such, the hiring of said consultants without the benefit of public bidding is not justifiable,” COA noted.

“Likewise, the requirement that the procuring entity obtain the most advantageous price in hiring them was not assured,” it added.

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Anti-Poverty Commission spent P8M for ‘unnecessary’ consultants – COA

All procuring entities must fully utilize the PhilGEPS in compliance with the policies, rules, regulations, and procedures issued by the GPPB and reflected in the IRR, according to Section 8.3.1, Rule 3 of the Procurement Law and its RIRR.

According to the same statute, to participate in the following alternative methods of procurement, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, contractors, and/or consultants must register with PhilGEPS and give a PhilGEPS Registration Number: a) Direct Contracting; b) Shopping for Ordinary Office Supplies and Equipment not available in DBM-PS; c) Take Over of Contracts; d) Scientific, Scholarly, or Artistic Work, Exclusive Technology and Media Services; e) Highly Technical Consultants; f) Small Value Procurement; g) Lease of Real Property and Venue, and h) NGO Participation.

“The hiring of consultants was not done through competitive bidding as individually checked through their Procurement Monitoring Report for 2021. No documents were also provided evidencing the procurement of such consultants under alternative method upon confirmation with BAC,” the COA said.

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