Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) — The Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) for not disposing millions of pesos worth of unserviceable equipment.
State auditors conducted an ocular inspection last January and found significant numbers of unserviceable equipment being kept in two storage locations within the PAGASA Central Office compound.
An employee informed the audit team that the disposal of old equipment worth ₱5.8 million stored in one of the locations is up for review and approval of the weather bureau administrator.
\”The items are already heavily filled with dust for having been stored there for several years, thus, exposed to further deterioration,\” COA said in its 2022 report uploaded on its website on June 28.
PAGASA apparently had to defer the inventory of the equipment due to lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to COA.
State auditors added that the loss of records due to the turnover of employees also led to delays in the process of disposal.
“The spaces occupied by these properties could have been used for more productive or worthwhile purposes,” they noted.
