The annual Commission on Audit (COA) report for 2023 has showed that in addition to certain assets lacking appropriate insurance coverage and vehicles standing unused and undisposed, Mountain Province’s provincial government is also liable for having signed and awarded contracts to a certain construction firm that the government at large has already blacklisted prior.
The contracts in question cover two different irrigation projects for the province’s farmers. COA’s report showed that some P10.1 million of funding from the Department of Agriculture (DA) was downloaded to the provincial government for implementation.
The Mayasen diversion dam and Surnangan irrigation canal, worth a total of P8.3 million out of the full DA funding, were initially awarded to ADL General Construction.
However, according to the COA report, the provincial bids and awards committee (BAC) only found out that ADL was blacklisted from taking on any government work after awarding of the contract.
The firm was blacklisted over previous failures to comply with contractual obligations and written lawful instruction of the procuring entity, poor performance or unsatisfactory quality and progress of work as well as failure to meet the approved specifications for quality of materials and workmanship.
While COA acknowledges that the provincial government was able to rebid and award the contracts to a non-blacklisted contractor after, the state auditors warned against future lack of review, which may result to contract failures or implemented projects being subpar to the detriment of the local government’s needs.