The Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Tarlac Agricultural University over P78.27 million in infrastructure projects with no adequate supporting documents, raising doubt on the regularity of the procurement process.

In its report, CoA said the infrastructure projects covered the periods from 2020 to 2023 with a total contract cost of P78,261,885.39.

Review and post-audit procedures, however, revealed lapses in the procurement and payment process, including incomplete documentation of disbursement vouchers and project documents as mandated by the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184).

“The submission of incomplete documentation on the infrastructure projects to the audit Team raises doubt on the propriety and legality of these disbursements,” the auditing body said.

In addition, state auditors said the university also failed to furnish them with its logbook, which contains information on the daily project activities, such as manpower, equipment used, and problems encountered during construction.

Audit findings further revealed that the university did not collect liquidated damages for the delayed rehabilitation of the Forest Product Development Building, the contract for which initially had 270 calendar days from the start of modification on 25 July 2020.

CoA discovered that the said project was yet to be completed until year-end of 2023.

“The non-imposition of liquidated damages against the erring contractor puts the government at a disadvantage and deprives it of the claim that rightfully belongs to it,” the audit team said.

CoA emphasized that the university’s accounting office must ensure the completeness of documents before effecting payment and review the documents pertaining to the modification of the Forest Product Development Building to calculate the liquidated damages accurately and communicate this information to the contractor immediately.

In response, the university said it has prepared the missing documents and will submit them to CoA.

Moreover, they committed to locating the contractor for his obligations to the university before computing the liquidated damages collected from the erring contractor.