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CEBU CITY, Philippines - A P1.5-million computerization program, which the Barili municipal government financed in 2006, failed to meet work requirements, the Commission on Audit-Central Visayas (Coa-7) said.
The agency also questioned why the Barili municipal government in Cebu paid the contractor in full even if the computer system they installed didn’t fully work.
“Concerned officials should explain why full payment was made...even if the conditions in the purchase were not met,” the agency said in its audit report.
The municipality of Barili appropriated P1.5 million from its 20 percent development fund for the computerization of its real property tax billing system.
On July 13, 2006, former Barili mayor Jose Antonio Nemeno entered into a contract with Vivian Eniola, vice president of Caentech Inc. for the installation of the system.
Regional state auditors said the project was supposed to improve efficiency and ensure transparency in the collection of real property taxes.
The contract provides a real property tax assessment program that would keep records of the payment history of the real property.
The computer system for property tax collection is said to be installed at the municipal assessor's office.
A billing, collection and accountable form monitoring system will be installed at the municipal treasurer's office.
The contractor was also required to provide training for the system users.
COA-7 said the computer system failed to produce the billing and collection records needed by the municipal treasurer's office for its reports.
The municipal treasurer’s office said they lacked the personnel qualified to operate the system.
The auditors said they tried using the computers but were unable to do so since the contractor failed to install all the software programs.
Despite this, they said payment was made on July 20, 2006 or six days since the signing of the purchase contract based on certification from all local officials.
