COA questions Tacloban’s P316.8-M property sale

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Pricing and procedural irregularities were cited by COA in an October 2012 transaction between Tacloban City and Robinsons Land Corporation

MANILA, Philippines – Pricing and procedural irregularities were cited by the Commission on Audit (COA) in an October 2012 transaction between the Tacloban City government and Robinsons Land Corporation.

In a 2012 audit report released Friday, March 21, the COA said the sale of a 2.44-hectare land which houses a government-owned market and commercial buildings did not have prior approval from the COA.  

The city government’s contract with Robinsons Land Corporation priced the sale at P316.8 million.

COA’s approval is a requisite outlined in the Local Government Code and the 2009 COA Rules and Procedures, in order to weigh the benefits of the government sale, the agency said.

“Management’s failure to secure the approval of the sale of these properties from the Commission on Audit may cast doubt as to whether the sale of the real properties owned by the City is advantageous to the government and may affect the validity, propriety and legality of the resulting contract,” the COA said.

COA also cited possible pricing irregularities, saying the city’s Local Executive Finance Committee Resolution No. 2012-01-1 dated August 30, 2012 must be taken into account. That resolution states that “areas with structures” are to be priced at P15,000 per square meter while areas without structures at P12,000 per square meter.

But the 4 buildings housed in the property a wet-dry market, a dry market, a one-story commercial building, and a commercial building with 14 rentable spaces – were all demolished before COA could assess them.

Where’s transparency?

“It was noted that demolition of the buildings and structures started December 2012 and was completed during the early part of February 2013 even without approval by COA,” the report further read.

It added that the city government seemingly ignored a City Legal Office opinion to have the subject property inspected by COA “for reasons of transparency.”

The City Legal Office said the Tacloban city government should have requested for a COA inspection before having the government buildings in the land demolished.

While it described the buildings as “condemned,” the legal office said the structures weren’t necessarily “unserviceable.”

The city government defended the sale saying the same procedure was applied in disposing government assets in the past – a defense COA rejected.

“(T)he audit team is not bound by the actions of the previous team. And even assuming arguendo that there were mistakes committed by the previous team, it does not prevent this Commission from correcting itself. It is a settled rule that Government is not bound by the mistakes of its agents,” COA said. – Buena Bernal/Rappler.com

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