COA commends AFP Commissary for exceeding sales target

The Commission on Audit (COA) has commended the Armed Forces of the Philippines Commissary and Exchange Service (AFPCES) for a significant increase in its sales of subsidized goods to the institution’s military and civilian personnel.

In an annual audit report posted on its website, the COA said that for 2017, the AFPCES’ registered sales amounted to P2.611 billion, a 12.14-percent or P282.53-million increase from its total sales in 2016 amounting to P2.328 billion.

The audit body said AFPCES’ actual sales for 2017 even exceeded by five percent or P111.95 million its P2.499billion target for the year, contrary to 2016 when it failed to reach its P2.755-billion target.

The COA attributed the AFPCES’ improved performance to “sufficient inventory/stocks of saleable and fast moving merchandise.”

“The managers were directed and constantly being reminded by the operations unit to prioritize the replenishment of basic commodities, saleable and fast moving items,” the COA report read.

Established in 1972, AFPCES serves as the military’s support unit, which enjoys tax exemptions from the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue in exchange for selling subsidized goods to the AFP’s uniformed and civilian personnel.

The COA said that of the AFPCES’ 42 outlets nationwide, only 14 were not able to meet their target sales, but their realization rate ranges from 80 percent to 99 percent.

Only two outlets – the AFP Main Gas Station and the AFP Medical Center Gas Station – registered a low realization rate of 21 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

The COA, however, said the AFP Main Gas Station’s failure to meet its target, was understandable as the AFPCES management sometime last year ordered the outlet to stop selling gasoline and diesel due to the reported leaks in the bed auxiliary tanks.

The COA noted that the AFPCES has pending request with Petron to rehabilitate the said tanks.

The COA also cited the AFPCES’ good coordination with various suppliers which led to the continuous deliveries of stocks to stores/outlets.

It was even able to extend support to the military during the five-month battle in Marawi City last year by distributing free groceries to the troops and to the families of the soldiers killed in action.