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MANILA - Sanitary napkins priced at P35 and procured by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration were bought per pack, and not per piece, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Friday.

This, after the Commission on Audit flagged the pricey napkins which were bought for P10 to P30 per pad.

Cacdac said an OWWA staff member made an error when the sanitary napkins were listed at 35 pesos per piece. He noted that during the time of procurement, the government was buying sanitary pads by bulk for female overseas Filipino workers who had to stay in government quarantine facilities.

"Yung sanitary napkins are pangangailangan ng female [overseas Filipino workers]. Noong panahon na iyon, meron tayong government quarantine facility sa World Trade Center, meron sa 2GO ship. Dinadalhan natin sila nang hygiene kits," he said in a TeleRadyo interview.

(The sanitary napkins are necessities for our female OFWs. During that time we had a government quarantine facility in World Trade Center and a 2GO ship. We would bring hygiene kits.)

"Ang halaga ng sanitary napkins is 32 pesos but in a pack of 8. So about 4 pesos each. Bakit namin ginawa per pack? Kasi maramihan ang bili. Parang bottled water, hindi ka bibili ng tingi.

(The cost of the sanitary napkins is 32 pesos but in a pack of 8, so about 4 pesos each. Why per pack? Because we buy in bulk. It's like bottled water, you don't buy per piece.)

"Siguro hindi lang nagkaintindihan, nailagay lang ng ating staff o personnel na 1 piece pero sa record namin, 1 pack yun."

(Maybe there was a misunderstanding, our staff or personnel put down per piece but in our record, that's 1 pack.)

The Commission on Audit earlier flagged the napkins as very costly, noting that the napkins can be bought in small sari-sari stores at P5 to P8 per pad.

• OWWA official told to explain alleged overpriced napkins: Cacdac
• High-priced napkins bought from hardware? OWWA chief speaks up on COA report

It said sanitary napkins were bought at the following prices at MRCJP Construction and Trading located at 80 M Cornejo Street, Malibay, Barangay 161, Pasay City:

520 pieces sanitary napkins at P10 per pad - March 7, 2020
86 pieces sanitary napkins at P20 per pad - March 9, 2020
100 pieces sanitary napkins at P30 per pad - March 11, 2020
1,500 pieces sanitary napkins at P35 per pad - March 12, 2020

The COA noted that hygiene kits, sanitary napkins and thermal scanners worth P969,920 were procured from MRCJP Construction and Trading. The audit body, however, noted that it could not locate the supplier at its business address and that procurement transactions were awarded not to reputable drugstores and supermarkets.

In the interview, Cacdac clarified that MRCJP Construction and Trading is a supplier of general merchandise that started out supplying construction material to hardware stores.

"Basta't may kakayahan silang bilhin at i-deliver sa iyo, gagawin [nila]. Pwede hardware basta papayag sila, may sourcing sila, bahala sila kung saan nila kukunin," he said.

He also noted that the firm had transferred to another office, which explains why auditors could not locate them in the previous address. He said the supplier had previously provided invoices for the transactions that listed the old business address.

"Siguro lesson na ito, sa dinarami ng naka-transact namin...lesson na rin namin ito na sabihan sila na pag lumipat kayo, sabihin niyo sa amin," he said.

(This is a lesson for us because of the volume of transactions...the lesson for us is that we should tell them to inform us if they change addresses.)

In its 2020 audit report, COA noted that OWWA bought thermal scanners at P2,950 per piece, more expensive than the P400 to P800 offered in online stores.

COA also flagged the agency’s purchase of cupcakes and bottled water worth around P300,000 from a caterer in Quezon City.

Bottled water and snack items such as Lemon Square, Fudgee Bar, Dowee Donut, and cupcakes with a total cost of P300,000 were procured from a caterer with business address in Tandang Sora, while the same items are available within the vicinity of Pasay City.

The audit team recommended to the OWWA management to justify why the procurement transactions were awarded to the construction and trading company and to the caterer, as well as show proof on the reasonability of the prices of the procured items.