The Commission on Audit (COA) has tagged the government officials of Imus City in Cavite on the P40.56 million purchase in 2021 of electronic vehicles (e-trikes) which were already “rusting” and with batteries “already discharged or defective.” In its 2022 Annual Audit Report, the COA found that the purchase of the 77 units of e-trikes in 2021 was highly "deficient and irregular." Despite the certification of local city officials that the 77 e-trikes were completely delivered and inspected on Nov. 10, 2020, the reality was that the e-trikes were only delivered from Dec. 28, 2021 to March 8, 2022, the COA said. It said that the supplier of the e-trikes was already paid the full amount of P40,656,000 on Sept. 28, 2021 despite non-delivery of the vehicles in violation of the terms of the contract that caused a great disadvantage to Imus City. What was worse, the COA said in its report, was that the technical inspection of the e-trikes on May 24 and 30, 2022 showed that the delivered vehicles were not being utilized because some parts were already “rusting,” and batteries were already “discharged or defective.” It said the e-trikes purchased were the 2013 model and not yet registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which, it noted, was a "wastage of borrowed funds." It also said that on Aug. 30, 2022, a total of 24 e-trikes was missing from the city premises and were reportedly taken to the warehouse of ABEL Teachers for calibration of batteries. The transfer was done despite the absence of authority and proper documentation for their release, it said. At the same time, the COA said that the supplier was not imposed with any sanctions despite the condition of the e-trikes.  It thus directed the city accountant to compute the liquidated damages that the supplier must pay due to late deliveries made. The COA said that if the total amount of liquidated damages should be more than 10 percent of the contract price, the current city mayor should "initiate the rescission of the contract, demand the refund of the payments made to the supplier and impose appropriate sanctions over and above the liquidated damages, to avoid disallowance in audit." The COA also recommended that local officials "file appropriate civil and/or criminal charges and initiate blacklisting proceedings against the supplier, if warranted, pursuant to the guidelines issued by the Government Procurement and Policy Board." It said the local government officials involved in the procurement of the e-trikes should submit to the COA’s Audit Team a written explanation why the contract price should not be refunded or disallowed in audit. The COA likewise asked the former city mayor and the city’s general services office (GSO) head to provide a written explanation why the project was not implemented in accordance with City Ordinance No. 03-125, series of 2019, which supported the city's application for loans to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). The current GSO head was also tasked to investigate why the 24 e-trikes were withdrawn on June 30, 2022 and why the batteries of the remaining 53 e-trikes were removed. Should any lapses be discovered, the COA said that appropriate sanctions must be imposed against the personnel liable for releasing the batteries without proper authority and documentation.