The provincial government of Albay has failed to properly turn over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) a P54 million building for use as temporary shelter to children in conflict with the law, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.
In its annual audit report, COA said that Albay has a usufructuary contract with the DSWD on the Regional Rehabilittion Center for Youth (RRCY building. Despite its completion, the building has not been turned over to the DSWD, it said.
Under Article 562 of the Civil Code, "usufruct gives a right to enjoy the property of another with the obligation of preserving its form and substance, unless the title constituting it or the law otherwise provides."
Based on its audit report, COA said that in September 2018, Albay and the DSWD entered into a usufructuary contract over the building for 25 years for use as RRCY.
The contract stipulated that once the building is done, it should be turned over to the DSWD. However, COA said that when its auditors checked, they discovered that the project was already completed based on the Statement of Work Accomplished dated Jan. 13, 2020.
An onsite inspection of the building on Aug. 15, 2023 showed that some of the floor tiles have already cracked, COA said. One of the doors in the second floor is broken, and the facility's elevator was incompletely installed, it said.
At the same time, the building is operating only under a temporary electric connection despite its claim that it is already 100 percent complete and should have been functioning under a permanent electric connection, COA said.
Government auditors learned that the building was utilized by the province during the Covid-19 pandemic as a temporary isolation facility. The Provincial Engineer explained that the contractor promised to complete the installation of the elevator when the electric connection has become permanent with the electric cooperative. He added that no other repair or restoration activities were undertaken since then, which contributed to the "unpleasant" condition of the building during site inspection.
COS recommended that Albay should comply with the provisions of the usufructuary contract by making the necessary repairs to the structure and conform with the as-built plan. Once done, they should immediately turn it over to the DSWD for its proper use and operation, it stressed.