Ousted Sereno Returns P5-M Luxury Service Car to SC, COA Says Purchase Has Irregularities

Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has already returned her P5-million Toyota Land Cruiser service vehicle to the Supreme Court (SC) office in Manila. According to lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, the former chief of justice returned it on Wednesday, June 21, the day after SC announced that her ouster is final.

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Nevertheless, the Commission on Audit (COA) has announced that the purchased of the said luxury car has some irregularities. In a 4-page Audit Observation Memorandum ((AOM) SC-2018-13(17) dated June 1, 2018 sent by COA to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, it cited that the vehicle was bought without the proper bidding.

According to the COA document, the purchase of Sereno’s luxury car was contrary to Republic Act 9184 (also known as Government Procurement Act) and its IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations). This is because only Toyota has participated in the public bidding, and no representative of other vehicle brands was present.

“Management used the detailed technical specifications of the Toyota Land Cruiser as a reference to the bidding documents in the public bidding conducted for the procurement of a motor vehicle, hence contrary to Section 18, Rule VI, of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184,” the COA document reads.

“Moreover, the price of the Toyota Land Cruiser amounting to P5,110,500.00 was also used as the Approved Budget for the Contract [ABC] without market analysis or basis to determine if it was the most advantageous prevailing price for the Supreme Court, contrary to Section 36, Rule X, also of the Revised IRR of RA 9184.” It added.

“Approving the amount as the budget for the contract prevented other suppliers from participating, thereby defeating the purpose of public bidding," COA said further, adding that it added that the contract for its purchase was also submitted 6 months late to the auditor and it lacked several supporting documents, making the purchase questionable.



The purchase of Sereno’s car, which was bought early last year, was among the alleged irregularities stated by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon in his impeachment complaint he filed last year against the then-chief justice. However, Sereno’s camp insisted that the Supreme Court en banc approved the acquisition and it was not an impeachable offense.

Contributed by Orlando Gagui