"Wala akong nakitang overpricing (I did not see any overpricing)," auditor Alfredo S. Reyes, cluster director for Mindanao of COA, told Sun.Star Davao in an interview Monday.
"The main question here was whether or not there was impropriety in the construction of the park, eh wala akong nakita (I didn't see any)," Reyes added.
It was the late broadcaster Fernando "Batman" Lintuan who sparked speculations that there might have been anomalies in the construction of the multimillion-peso park.
Lintuan alleged, among others, that the park was overpriced and was claiming in his broadcast that he had documents to prove these anomalies.
The murder of Lintuan on December 24 last year further fanned the flames that there might have actually been irregularities in the construction of the park.
Lintuan was a staunch critic of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, and of late, the People's Park.
Results of the initial investigations on the murder of Lintuan hinted that the murder might have had other motives.
Procurement of trees
One of the biggest controversies hounding the People's Park was the alleged overpricing in the procurement of the more than 2,000 trees planted at the park, which Reyes said were not even bought.
"The trees were donated by the private sector, the Ayala family was one of them," Reyes said.
Various trees that now fill the park were donated by some of the oldest families of the city.
In earlier statements, City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has admitted that the city spent for the balling and transport of the full-grown trees, but nothing more.
Free hand
Reyes meantime said the fact that Duterte took a leave of absence to give them a free hand in the investigation allowed them to work faster.
"We really appreciate the gesture of Mayor Duterte when he went on leave as we were about to investigate the People's Park, a project of his office," Reyes said.
Mayor on leave
Duterte, in several public pronouncements, said he would resign from his post if the COA will find at least P10 overprice in the whole P72-million project.
With nothing found, at least by the COA, Duterte will not have to push through with this promise.
Duterte went on leave at the start of the year to allow the COA the freedom to look through the documents regarding the People's Park. The leave expired last week, but Duterte went on leave again last Wednesday as it was not yet clear whether COA has already wrapped up its auditing of the expenditures over the park.
Auditing process
COA did not simply review the over 70 vouchers of releases that the city government had done during the construction of the park.
"We had to double check if the prices of the materials used where the same as that of the present market value, or if it was overpriced," Reyes said.
Reyes said even after they have checked on the present market value of the materials procured, they also had to check if it was indeed the specifications provided by the architect.
The park
People's Park stands on the four-hectare vacant property that used to be a sports center of Davao City, called the PTA grounds. After years of neglect it became the haven for various forms of criminal elements, especially during nighttime.
Except for a dirt road oval, the other amenities of the PTA grounds were left in various states of deterioration. Bleachers that used to house spectators were turned into the dwelling place of the homeless, while the Olympic size swimming pool became petri dish for the frogs.
Reyes said what the government has made out of the previous PTA grounds was not merely to renovate it, but was to make something entirely new out of it.
The park is now visited by a daily average of 3,000 Dabawenyos.
Ombudsman review
The COA audit report is now with the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao. "We submitted it to them last week, about Thursday or Friday," Reyes said.
The Ombudsman for Mindanao, lawyer Humphrey Monteroso, earlier said in previous interviews that they will be reviewing the audit report of COA -- whether it is favorable to the city government or not.
