Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

  View printer friendly version

WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the Chief Executive that in many bureaus and offices of the National Government there exist considerable quantities of unused furniture and equipment and dormant supplies and materials, and public interest demands that these unused and dormant articles be properly utilized, or otherwise disposed of, and the accumulation of unnecessary or excessive stock of supplies and equipment in the future avoided;

WHEREAS, more effective supervision and control in the purchase and issue of supplies, materials, furniture and equipment and in the making of repairs are necessary in order that the expenditure of the authorized appropriations for consumption of supplies and materials and for purchase and repair of furniture and equipment may be made with the utmost economy and at the same time delays be minimized in the acquisition of such articles or the completion of such repairs;

NOW. THEREFORE, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, I, MANUEL L. QUEZON, President of the Philippines, do hereby order and decree that—

(1) The General Auditing Office shall receive and properly store all unused or dormant supplies, materials, furniture and equipment now existing or which may exist hereafter in all the different branches of the National Government. It shall take care of said articles, account for them, can, them, if necessary, to be repaired or placed in condition for appropriate use, appraise their value, which in no cut should exceed the current market price, and cause them to be issued at the said appraised value to any branch of the Government that may requisition or order similar articles;

(2) From the date of the issuance of this Executive Order no Head of Department or Chief of Bureau, Office or dependency of the National Government shall be authorized hold any supplies, materials, furniture or equipment which are not in actual and current use or the use of which not have been definitely determined, and such officials hereby directed to transfer to the General Auditing Office without cost, under the provisions of section six hundred forty-one of the Administrative Code, all unused or dormant  articles now existing or which may exist hereafter: Provided, That if such supplies or equipment are taken from the stock of any self-supporting government entity operating from revolving funds, such supplies and equipment shall be transferred to the entity needing same at a fair appraised value and said amount credited to the fund from which the article was purchased;

(3) Before filing any requisition or order for the purchase or manufacture of supplies, materials, furniture, or equipment, or for the repair of any furniture or equipment, chiefs of bureaus and offices shall, except in emergency cases, as provided in paragraph (6) hereof, secure a certificate from their respective auditors as to the availability of an appropriation to cover the payment of the estimated cost thereof. In case the amount of funds to be certified as available for a certain requisition or order can not be definitely determined until after the work has been commenced or completed, an estimated amount needed to cover at least the major portion of its probable cost should be specified in the requisition or order so that the auditor may set aside an certify thereon enough fund to cover at least the initial cost and more or less ascertain whether the requisitioning: bureau or office will be able to eventually meet the obligation so contracted. When, for any reason, the cost of any item in a given requisition or order exceeds the amount certified by the auditor as available therefor, further certification of the said auditor as to the availability of additional fund for that particular item and the corresponding approval of the Auditor General must be secured before the article in question should be allowed to be purchased or while the work order is being executed. Any excess amount in the estimated price of any item in a requisition or order should not be used to cover a deficiency in the estimated cost of any other item therein. Once a regular requisition or order has been acted upon by the General Auditing Office, no subsequent increase in the estimated price and/or quantity of any item therein shall be permitted without the consent of the requisitioning bureau or office and the approval of the Auditor General;

(4) Requisitions or orders for the purchase or manufacture of supplies, materials, furniture and equipment, or for the repair of furniture and equipment, for use in any branch of the National Government, addressed to the Division of Purchase and Supply, Bureau of Printing, Government Marine Railway and Repair Shops, Bureau of Prisons, or any other government bureau or office, or to commercial houses and dealers or private manufacturing or repair shops, shall, except as provided in paragraph (6) hereof, be coursed thru the General Auditing Office for approval. The Auditor General shall carefully investigate all requisitions and orders received by his Office and shall see to it that only articles and repairs that are necessary for the service and whose cost is not excessive or extravagant are purchased, manufactured or made. He shall also see if there are articles in the stock of the General Auditing Office which are similar to, or will serve the same purpose as, those requisitioned or ordered, and if there be any and the Department Head concerned approves the requisition or order, he shall cause the article on hand to be issued to the requisitioning bureau or office and the elimination of the corresponding item from the requisition or order. Should he find any item in such requisitions or orders which he considers unnecessary or extravagant, he shall suspend further action on the question item and take up the matter with the corresponding bureau of office. Should the requisitioning bureau or office insist in its requisition or order, the case should be brought to the attention of the Department Head concerned. In case of disagreement between the Department Head and the Auditor General, the matter shall be submitted to the President for decision. Under no circumstance shall a suspended item in a requisition or order be purchased or performed unless the question raised by the General Auditing Office has been definitely decided by proper authorities;

(5) Upon receipt of any requisition or order forwarded to the Department Head concerned for approval, he shall carefully scrutinize it with a view of avoiding any unnecessary expenditure on the part of the National Government, especially in the acquisition of luxurious equipment or the purchase of articles at extravagant or excessive prices when similar ones at more economical cost will serve the purpose just as well;

(6) In cases of emergency, where the need for the supplies, materials, furniture, equipment or repair of an equipment is exceptionally urgent or absolutely indispensable to prevent immediate danger to, or loss of, life and/or property, or to avoid detriment to the public service, bureaus and offices of the National Government may make emergency purchases or place emergency requisitions and repair or manufacturing orders without first coursing same thru the prescribed channels: Provided, That immediately after the emergency purchase has been made, or the requisition or order placed, the chief of the bureau or office concerned shall submit a regular requisition or order to cover such purchase, manufacture or repair, showing thereon (a) a complete description of the articles acquired or of the work done or to be performed; by whom furnished, executed or to be executed; (c) date of acquisition or execution; (d) the unit price and the amount paid or contracted therefor; (e) a clear explanation of the circumstances why the article or repair was urgently needed or why a regular requisition or order could not be previously coursed as required without causing detriment to the public service; and (f) a certificate to the effect that the price paid or contracted for was the lowest obtainable at the time of purchase or order. In all such cases, requisitions covering emergency purchases or emergency work orders must invariably bear the necessary certificate of the auditor as to the availability of fund for the purpose before they are submitted to the General Auditing Office for approval ;

(7) Failure to comply with the above requirements, particularly as to the certificate of availability of funds and the approval of the Auditor General and the Department Head, may render the official responsible for the placing of the requisition or order personally liable for the payment of the articles so requisitioned or ordered, or for the cost of the repairs made.

(8) This Order shall supersede Executive Order Numbered Ninety-three, as amended by Executive Order Numbered One hundred and twenty-six, both series of nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, and any other orders or circulars inconsistent herewith.

Done at the City of Manila, this 26th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the fifth.


By the President:

(Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS
Secretary to the President