The Commission on Audit (COA) has found irregular the award of P654.6 million worth of housing projects for people displaced by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” to a contractor whose license did not authorize it to take on such big-ticket projects. In its 2017 annual audit report, the COA urged the National Housing Authority (NHA) to sue its erring officials and the still unnamed contractor of eight housing projects in the towns of Balangiga, Hernani and Quinapondan in Eastern Samar. Beyond limitHad the contracts not been split, the total cost would have been P133.2 million for Balangiga, P286.6 million for Hernani and P234.7 million for Quinapondan. The COA said the NHA violated the Government Procurement Reform Act. It also found that 10 Yolanda Permanent Housing Program projects, worth P852.7 million, progressed very slowly because the NHA awarded contracts to a developer that had few workers and equipment.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 11, 2018 21:33 UTC