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Friday, July 21, 2006
Sue us - Gwen tells COA
By Jeanette P. Malinao
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will not run after contractors as the Commission on Audit (COA) recommended, saying the COA report is “misleading.”
“Sue us,” she said. She is also willing to go to court so things will be clarified, such as the definition of “substantially completed.”
If this pushes through, this will not be the first time the Capitol tangles with COA in court. Garcia recently won her case over COA’s stand that she needs to seek legislative authority for all contracts she signs.
In the annual report for 2005 operations, auditors noted that more than P200 million worth of Capitol projects were not finished within the contract period and said the Province must demand “liquidated damages.”
But Garcia said she will not do so.
For one, she told Sun.Star Cebu, the Capitol will stick to their stand that the contracts were “substantially completed” on time.
They were not considered “completed” only because of some deficiencies. Under the law, she said, the government does not charge liquidated damages on substantially completed projects.
“Deficiencies do not mean they are not completed. Like if they were asked to deliver a bridge, the bridge was delivered but we could not declare them completed because of some lacking documents or wa pa ba kahay pintal (it lacked a paint job),” she said in an interview.
Complete
She also chided COA for pegging the amount at P200 million plus while talking about liquidated damages.
Garcia pointed out that even COA admitted the projects were “95 to 99 percent” complete. So even if there’s a need to demand liquidated damages, it would not be computed based on the full project amount, but only for the cost of the remaining unfinished five or one percent.
More importantly, the governor said, if projects are done after the specified month of completion, that does not necessarily mean the contractors are working beyond the approved deal.
Sometimes the government issues suspension orders that contractors ask for and which are allowed under the law.
Garcia explained that within the contract duration, bad weather and other “meritorious reasons” will justify the issuance of suspension orders. These orders mean that the clock temporarily stops ticking for the contractors.
On the San Fernando bridges that COA cited, for example, the cranes of the contractors could not be brought to the construction site because these are in remote upland barangays and the roads are not good.
Medicine
So the Capitol issued suspension orders on the projects, and the period where no work was done will not be computed as part of the contract duration.
In the audit report, COA also scored Capitol’s release of educational assistance to workers without an appropriations ordinance.
But Garcia said they used the ordinance that allows the governor to augment items in the budget within the same expense class.
COA’s rejoinder was that education assistance was not an item in the budget, but Garcia said this can be charged against the “other benefits” item for personnel services.
The report also mentioned P1.1 million worth of expired medicines at the Capitol.
The governor, however, said these items were found before 2005 and even before she assumed as governor, and the Integrated Provincial Health Office has long sent explanations to COA about these.
Donations
COA also mentioned P2.5 million in grants to accredited private organizations that were classified as “subsidy to nongovernment organizations and people’s organizations” but without a memorandum of agreement.
On this, Garcia said the accountant should have classified these as donations, which do not need a memorandum of agreement.
“If I donate P1,000 or P5,000 without any other reason but because they asked for a donation and not necessarily for any program or project, do we need an agreement? So, fair is fair. I disagree with COA on some items but for this, the accountant made a mistake. It’s difficult to change habits that lasted years and years. I have to always pound on their heads that old ways are not necessarily the effective way to good governance. Ug di gyud masilsil (And if they insist), ay, di goodbye, adios patria adorada.”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 21, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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