COA urges DOE to recover 53.2B in unpaid income from power projects
The Commission on Audit (COA) has sought the recovery of over 53.2 billion in disbursements and in unpaid government income from a natural gas production deal through the Department of Energy (DOE).
COA also disclosed that 180 congressmen representing various partylist organizations and congressional districts have been remiss in their obligation to account for 178.49 million worth of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that they distributed to their constituents under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project.
COA asked the DOE to “exhaust all possible actions” for the recovery of 53,258,700,595.63 contained in notices of suspension, disallowances, and charge issued by the audit agency.
State auditors disclosed in its 2013 annual audit report for DOE that a notice of charge amounting to
53,140,304,739.86 was issued on December 31, 2012 but remained unsettled up to the end of the period on audit.
The amount represented the under collection of the 60 percent government share from the Malampaya Natural Gas Projects from 2002 to 2009. The under collection was the result of the deduction from government profit in the natural gas venture of the corporate income taxes that should have been paid by service contractors.
The execution of the notice of charge is currently the subject of an appeal filed before the COA proper by the DOE, Shell, Philippines Exploration B. V. ( SPEX) Philippine National Oil Commission-EC, and Chevron.
On the other hand, the notice of suspension worth 21,586,234.06 covered the final tranche payment for the supplier of the 2011 Barangay Electrification Program.
A total 60,368,000 sought to be recovered by COA through the issuance of a notice of disallowance against the disbursement of the 2010 year-end benefits and 2011 food and utility subsidy for DOE personnel.
In the same audit report, COA questioned the distribution of 2,160,194 pieces of CFLs by 180 congressmen, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Leyte provincial government.
According to COA auditors, government spent 178,496,830.22 for the CFLs that represented 60 percent of the total 3,636,000 pieces of CFLs procured by DOE for the implementation of the PEEP.
As of December 31,2013, congress- men and agencies who participated in the PEEP failed to fully account for the CFLs.
“As a result, the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the said undertaking (the PEEP) could not be ensured,” said COA.
The audit report noted that there is no provision on sanctions for failure of “project partners” to report about the distribution of the CFLs.
This was discovered last year when the audit team sent letters to 250 consumers whose names were listed as recipients in Mandaluyong, Makati, Marikina, Pasig, and Taguig and the second district of Ilocos Norte.
“Results of the confirmation conducted disclosed that only 97 out of 250 respondents or only 39 percent replied,” COA auditors disclosed.
“We recommended that management make representations with the district and party-list representatives and other project partners to obtain the CFL Distribution Monitoring Forms as basis to fully account for the 2,160,194 pieces of CFLs and to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the undertaking,” the audit agency stated.
Audit examiners also asked the DOE to impose sanctions against those who fail to comply with the contractual obligations included in the MOA provisions.