The Philippines Commission on Audit has blasted the Philippines Charity Sweepstake Office (PCSO) after it was revealed it had paid P154.2m to the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) for the airtime and production of its lottery draws without a contract, according to a report from Inquiry.net.
The COA ruled that it goes against the laws set out in the agency-to-agency procurement under the Government Procurement Reform Act.
PTNI is the Philippino Government’s primary television broadcaster and has produced the ‘Philippine Lotto Draw’ since 1995. The PCSO is also government owned and controlled, which raised alarm bells in the COA with regard to the uncontracted payments.
A COA statement said: “The absence of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the PTNI did not serve the best interest of the PCSO as there were no well-defined or concrete terms and conditions that should have bound both parties.
“Sanctions and penalties, in case of non fulfillment or partial fulfillment and/or poor rendition of services, cannot be enforced in the absence of a MOA.
According to the auditor, the last binding contract between the two parties to produce and broadcast the lottery expired in 2018.
However, a payment of P154.212m was made to PTNI to cover the airtime, production, technical equipment, microwave transmission facility and postproduction of the PCSO’s lottery draws from January 2019 to March 2020, despite the contract having expired for 15 months.
The COA has ordered both parties to make a contractual agreement with a suitable MOA in order to “protect the best interest of the PCSO” and comply with the law.
