The Commission on Audit has called the attention of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration over its failure to obligate P509.735 million for the procurement of equipment and build facilities needed for the improvement of weather and climate forecasting.
In a 2018 report, state auditors said Pagasa should have used the money for typhoon and weather warnings; operation and maintenance of automated observational data from a surface and upper-air observation network; farm weather information system, and research on geophysical, astronomical and allied sciences.
“The responsibility to take care that such policy is faithfully adhered to rest directly with the chief or head of the government agency concerned,” the report read.
CoA said Pagasa should have undertaken early procurement activities for the timely implementation of the contracts.
The weather bureau, for its part, attributed the delays in procurement activities to the rebidding of several projects and the incomplete terms of reference by end-users.
It asked CoA to take into consideration its recommendations to facilitate the completion of projects and initiate early procurement and plan better to improve its obligations.
Moreover, CoA also flagged the weather bureau for the non-liquidation of a P398-million fund transferred to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
Only P5.2 million was spent so far, citing the “inefficiency of the DICT to implement the project.”
“The long outstanding balance would show that the funds were not translated into the project output/deliverables depriving the citizenry of the benefits that could have been derived from the project,” CoA said.
