G.R. No. 240632 , August 22, 2023
LIBRADO C. NAVARRO, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT, DIRECTOR RONALD A. REY, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, COMMISSION ON AUDIT, REGIONAL OFFICE NO. XIII, CARAGA REGION, BUTUAN CITY, RESPONDENTS. [G.R. No. 240759] CHARLITO R. LEROG, APRODECIO A. ALBA, ROBERTO V. VIDUYA, DAISY A. RONQUILLO, LORNA S. SALGADO, AND BELMA K. LOMANTAS, PETITIONERS, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT, REPRESENTED BY CHAIRPERSON MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO, COMMISSIONER JOSE A. FABIA, AND COMMISSIONER ISABEL D. AGITO, RESPONDENTS. [G.R. No. 240803] RACQUEL L. BAUTISTA, ESTEFA R. MAATA, AND LAILA P. MANLUCOB, PETITIONERS, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT, REPRESENTED BY CHAIRPERSON MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO, COMMISSIONER JOSE A. FABIA, AND COMMISSIONER ISABEL D. AGITO, RESPONDENTS. [G.R. No. 241459] GILBERT P. ABUGAN, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT [COA] AND REGIONAL DIRECTOR, COA REGIONAL OFFICE NO. XIII, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

The City Government of Bislig, Surigao del Sur, with an approved budget of PHP 15,000,000.00, sought to procure a brand-new crawler type hydraulic excavator. The Invitation to Bid specified a required bucket capacity of “1 to 1.5 cu. m.” Two bidders submitted proposals: JVF Commercial (JVF) offered a Kobelco Hydraulic Excavator, and RDAK Transport Equipment, Inc. (RDAK) offered a Komatsu Hydraulic Excavator. JVF was initially declared the Lowest Calculated Bid but was post-disqualified by the Technical Working Group (TWG) for failing to meet required specifications, including having a four-cylinder engine instead of a six-cylinder engine and a bucket digging force of 16,000 kg instead of the required 17,500 kg. The TWG then evaluated RDAK’s bid, found it responsive, and recommended its award. The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) adopted this, and Mayor Librado C. Navarro approved the award to RDAK for PHP 14,750,000.00. The unit was delivered, inspected, and paid for. Subsequently, a COA audit found that the Komatsu unit had a bucket capacity of only 0.80 cubic meters, per its manual, failing the 1.0-1.5 cu. m. specification. COA also determined the Kobelco unit was superior in horsepower, bucket capacity, and operating weight, and was cheaper. COA issued a Notice of Disallowance for PHP 4,214,000.00, representing the price variance between the two units. The COA Regional Office and the COA Commission Proper affirmed the disallowance, finding the procurement irregular as both bidders were allegedly non-responsive. The petitioners sought reversal via consolidated petitions for certiorari.

ISSUE

Whether the Commission on Audit (COA) committed grave abuse of discretion in affirming the disallowance of PHP 4,214,000.00 relative to the City Government of Bislig’s purchase of a Komatsu Hydraulic Excavator.

RULING

No, the COA did not commit grave abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court denied the petitions and affirmed the COA’s disallowance. The Court held that the Komatsu Hydraulic Excavator failed to conform to a critical requirement of the Invitation to Bid—the bucket capacity of 1.0 to 1.5 cubic meters—as its manual specified a capacity of 0.80 cubic meters. This failure rendered RDAK’s bid non-responsive. Since JVF’s bid was also non-responsive for other reasons, there was no legally compliant bid. The award to RDAK was therefore void. The Court found that the BAC and TWG members, as well as the approving officers, acted with gross negligence in failing to verify this clear specification mismatch during post-qualification. They are thus solidarily liable for the disallowed amount. However, the approving officers who merely relied on the BAC’s recommendation in good faith, and the payees who acted in good faith, are not liable. The Court also clarified that the disallowed amount is the entire contract price of PHP 14,750,000.00, not just the price variance, as the entire expenditure was illegal due to the void contract.