A TASK force was activated by the Department of Transportation and Communications on Tuesday to investigate the allegedly anomalous procurement of billion-pesos worth of lighthouse parts for the Coast Guard.
Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas II announced the formation of a special task force composed of representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to look into the alleged procurement violations by former DOTC officials.
Five years ago, marine environmental equipment and lighthouse spare parts were procured for the PCG totaling P1.15 billion. Some of these were the subject of a Commission of Audit (COA) report, particularly with regard to how these were used and allocated to purchase Marine Environment Protection Equipment and Aids to Navigation spare parts for PCG lighthouses nationwide under six corresponding Special Allotment Release Orders.
The COA questioned the excessive procurement of lighthouse spare parts because the PCG had actually refused to accept these, saying it still has a year’s supply. The COA said that the money spent to procure these could have been used to pay for government’s other urgent needs.
“We would like to know what really transpired before we joined the department, and find a concrete resolution to this recurring issue,” Roxas said. “We were not here yet when the purchase of said equipment happened, hence we’re trying to conduct our own internal investigation regarding the matter,” Roxas said. “The results of this internal initiative will be used by the task force to distinguish what equipment had been acquired without the proper protocol, and were purchased in violation of the rules set by the budget department.”
Out of the P1.15 billion total procurement, P250 million was used to buy the lighthouse equipment. These devices included solar panels, solar and halogen bulbs, flasher-lamp changers, photo eyes and battery charger controllers requested by the PCG for use in its lighthouses all over the country. The DOTC is now working with PCG to conduct an inventory of the equipment and distribute them accordingly.
