The Philippine National Police (PNP) ordered on Friday, July 22, to explain the delay on the construction of police stations in their respective areas after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the projects for failure to be completed on time.
Police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao, Jr., PNP officer-in-charge, said there is a need to clarify the issue in the soonest possible time to avoid misconception on the projects in Davao Region and Central Mindanao worth P27.7 million
“We will require the concerned PROs (Police Regional Offices) to immediately submit their reports as to the status of the four projects and the circumstances pertaining to the perceived delay in the project completion,” said Danao.
In its report, COA noted that buildings that will serve as police stations for the towns of Bansalan, Midsayap Esperanza Arakan remain incomplete.
“The projects’ completion were not met due to solvency issues of the contractor, inadequate detailed engineering, and failure to establish the technical viability of projects and conformance to land use,” the report read.
COA said the failure to complete the projects on time resulted in a delay in achieving the agency’s objective of providing “modern and respectable police stations/ community police action centers and deprived the agency and the end-users of the social and economic benefits that could be derived from said project”.
On the part of the Police Regional Office 11, it agreed with the COA to take actions by imposing damages to the contractor and terminate or rescind the contract once the cumulative amount of liquidated damages reach 10 percent of contract price.
The Police Regional Office 12, on the other hand, has issued letters to the contractor of the Midsayap police station to resume works.
“Actions of the PNP will depend on the reports and factual circumstances, in relation of course with our existing procurement rules,” Danao said.