BAGUIO CITY — The Commission on Audit in Cordillera issued a notice of disallowance to the office of Benguet Governor Melchor Diclas, members of the Provincial Bids and Awards Committee and Technical Working Group as it observed some violations to rule of procurements pertaining to the declaration of a winning bidder for a road project.
The state auditor revealed that the disallowed amount — totaling P20,738,611.08 — violated the Revised Internal Rules and Regulations and Republic Act 9184 or the General Procurements Act.
It also identified two disbursements — the first disbursement was done in 4 May 2021 amounting to P14,877,944.50 and the other was done in 29 December 2021 amounting to P5,860,666.58.
The disbursements were for the road improvement of the Amburayan-Boneng Provincial Road Phase 2 at Kapangan, Benguet.
The contract — with a total amount of P26,977,493.33 — was awarded to Balintugan Construction Services on October 2020 after three biddings. The first bidding was declared failures as the bidder was non-responsive.
The second bidding was declared failure by the BAC because of issue of non-compliance. Said declaration was approved by the Head of Procurement Entity, which is Diclas. However, the state auditor found that the declaration of failure is improper as certain processes under the law were not followed.