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CEBU City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia supports the call of the City Council for the conduct of a fraud audit on the P480 million modern traffic lights project.
The project suppliers — Triune Electronics Systems Inc. and Cylix Tech CCTV and Smart Surveillance — requested the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to intervene for full payment of P480 million for the project’s first two phases.
Garcia noted that findings or recommendations from the Commission on Audit (COA) fraud audit could aid the City Government in case of any legal actions by suppliers.
“Anytime from now, the Ombudsman might make its own investigation. That is why I want this issue to be settled as soon as possible,” said Garcia.
Task Force
On Sept. 25, 2024, Garcia formed a task force to investigate overpricing concerns and evaluate the suitability of the city’s new traffic light system.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, committee on finance member, suggested the conduct of a fraud audit by COA over concerns of irregularities in implementing the two phases of the traffic light modernization project.
At the same time, she also called for the postponement of payment for the second phase of the project.
The mayor said he is still waiting for the final review and recommendation of the task force assigned to investigate the project.
He said the task force is looking into every single item and equipment that have been delivered by the supplier, as these items must reflect in the terms of reference of the contract.
These include closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, signal lights and others.
Garcia explained that the supplier has delivered several pieces of equipment to the Command Center. However, these were not utilized by the City Government as the supplier refused to activate these unless payment had been made.
“For me, this has to expedite so that we could use this equipment. Actually, our police during times of incident cannot check the CCTV cameras because these are not activated,” said Garcia.
The mayor explained that the traffic project is not just meant to solve traffic congestion but also law enforcement.
He said he will also consider the council proposal to stop the procurement of Phase 3, but he stressed that it falls under the “executive’s discretion.”
In the proposed 2025 Annual Budget, Garcia proposed a P200 million budget allocation for the third phase of the digitalization of the traffic signal lights system.
“I think that is a logical and reasonable request for as long as we can clarify (the discrepancies) in the Phase 1 and 2, and that is probably the time we will go the Phase 3,” said Garcia.
The review and recommendation of the task force will be among Garcia’s consideration in the payment of the unsettled obligation on Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Last Oct. 21, Garcia said the City Government had already paid 92 percent of the P232 million contract for Phase 1 and made a 15 percent down payment on the P248 million cost of Phase 2.
The traffic light modernization project, consisting of four phases, aims to replace the city’s old traffic lights with modern digital ones.