6.12. The Municipal Treasurer further explained that as the president of the Negros
Oriental Local Treasurers Association, he had already pointed out to the Provincial
Government the need to avail of judicial and administrative remedies for RPT
delinquencies. However, his recommendation was not given preferential attention.
Technical Inspection Report on Road Concreting
7. Due to Management’s oversight in conducting proper detailed engineering works
and adequately monitoring and evaluating project implementation, the road
concreting project in Barangay Balili, reported as fully completed with a contract
cost of ₱1,391,537.64, was constructed in a location different from that specified in
the approved Program of Work and the original and as-built plans, resulting in the
irregular and unauthorized disbursement of public funds.
7.1. The conduct of detailed engineering works is mandated under Section 17.6 of the
Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA No. 9184, which states
that “No bidding and award of contract for Infrastructure Projects shall be
made unless the detailed engineering investigations, surveys and designs, for
the project have been sufficiently carried out and duly approved in
accordance with the standards and specifications prescribed by the HoPE
concerned or his duly authorized representative, pursuant to the
recommendation of the end-user or implementing unit and in accordance with the
provisions of Annex “A” of this IRR.” (Emphasis ours.)
7.2. Annex A of the said IRR provides that work under detailed engineering includes,
but is not necessarily limited to, the preparation of a Program of Work. It further
states that no program of work for any project shall be approved without
detailed engineering. The program of work shall include, among other things,
estimates of the work, items, quantities, and costs, and a PERT/CPM network of
the project activities.
7.3. Additionally, Section 476(b)(4) of RA No. 7160 assigns the Municipal Planning
and Development Coordinator the responsibility to monitor and evaluate the
implementation of local development programs and projects in accordance with
the approved development plan.
7.4. It is worth mentioning that the disbursement of public funds is strictly governed by
existing laws, rules and regulations. A fundamental requirement under these legal
frameworks is the presence of lawful appropriation before any expenditure may be
incurred. Foremost among these is Section 85(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1445,
which provides that no contract involving the expenditure of public funds shall be
entered into unless there is an appropriation therefor, the unexpended balance of
which, free of other obligations, is sufficient to cover the proposed expenditure.
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