MANILA, Philippines – What are 10 brand new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) with a listed value of P14.912 million doing at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan?
The Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the purchase in 2017 of the 10 SUVs after finding 10 cars in the court’s inventory listed as “idle or defective”. They were said to be worth P13.712 million.
The 10 vehicles have not been assigned to any Sandiganbayan official nor to any specific office.
All together, the anti-graft court has a fleet of 37 vehicles, of which 24 are “in use”, 10 “idle/defective”, and 3 “for disposal”.
The idle vehicles include:
- one 2008 Honda Civic purchased for P1.042 million
- 3 Honda CRVs worth between P1.266 million to P1.395 million
- 2 Kia Sorentos worth P1.5 million each
- one Mitsubishi Montero Sport worth P1.454 million
In its report, the COA said, “Under-utilization of these vehicles may indicate excessive units and may not justify the purchase of new ones.”
The property officer of the Sandiganbayan told the audit team that 4 of the 10 idle vehicles will be issued as service cars for the court’s newest members. Another two will replace the service vehicles of support operations offices.
Auditors were also told that the Sandiganbayan’s presiding justice will be the one to determine whether the 4 units will be reissued “in favor of more senior heads of divisions, or to be disposed of in coordination with the Committee Disposal and Inventory.”
The COA recommended that the Sandiganbayan Administrative Division/Property Officer evaluate the condition of the idle or defective vehicles and dispose of them based on auditing rules, that is selling them to the highest bidder at a public auction. – Rappler.com
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