Idle NTC office earns CoA ire

The National Telecommunications Commission wasted hundreds of millions of pesos in government funds after building a regional office that has remained idle, the Commission on Audit reported.

The NTC Regional Office V building was acquired in July 2007 for P10,139,392. The three-story building with a total floor area of 750 square meters in Barangay Rawis, Legazpi City, stands on a land area measuring 360 square meters.

In its report covering 2022, the CoA said the initial budget for the project amounted to P11 million: P1.26 million for the land and P9.7 million for the office building.

However, the Region V office of the NTC disbursed P399.4 million for the renovation of the property, the accumulated depreciation of which from the year of acquisition was pegged at P7,087,918.24 as of October 2022.

“Thus, as of the same date, the book value of the building has been reduced to P3,051,474.60 (30.09 percent). The accumulated depreciation (69.01 percent) computed on the said building was caused by the normal wear and tear as being unutilized and not on account of intended usage as stated in the released SARO to NTC RO V,” the CoA said.

“Hence, expenses were incurred even without the corresponding benefit to the RO,” it added, citing an ocular inspection conducted on 8 November 2022 that said: “Continuous dilapidation of the acquired NTC building due to non-use and the lack of appropriate maintenance.”

The non-utilization of the office building runs counter to Section 2 of Presidential Decree 1445 or the Government Auditing Code, mandating that all government resources shall be managed, expended, or utilized in accordance with law and regulations and safeguard against loss or wastage through illegal or improper disposition.

Moreover, the CoA said the idle office building resulted in the wastage of government funds and property and deprived the government of the benefits that could have been derived from its complete and timely implementation.

“The non-utilization of the office building for more than a decade diminished the value of the property. Further, the property is no longer usable since the property was not properly managed and will require a large amount of funding for the major repair/rehabilitation of the property,” CoA said.

The auditing body warned the NTC that this is not the first time it incurred such irregularity, as it was already addressed in the 2015 audit.

CoA ordered the regional director of NTC-RO V to evaluate the property for its proper disposition and to request funding for the repair and maintenance of the building.

The NTC, in response, said that the funding request for repair or rehabilitation of the building was already submitted to NTC-CO for inclusion in the 2024 budget.