COA uncovers P125.5M in Bacoor City payments to job order workers without contracts

BACOOR CITY, Cavite — The Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the Bacoor City government over P125.5 million in payments made in 2023 to more than 1,300 job order (JO) and contract of service (COS) workers whose employment had no contracts or clear job functions.

In its 2023 audit report released in 2024, COA said the duties of 1,375 JO/COS workers — representing 54.3 percent of the city’s total workforce — “were not clearly defined” since no contracts, memoranda of agreement or similar documents were executed between the city and the workers.

The finding runs contrary to COA Circular No. 2023-004 and Bacoor City Ordinance No. 324-2023, which require written contracts specifying the scope of work and conditions of employment.

The audit body stressed that without contracts, it could not verify the necessity of the hiring or the reasonableness of the payments.

COA warned that the absence of agreements meant the city had no standards to evaluate performance or ensure that the workers’ functions did not overlap with those of regular employees.

Of the 1,346 JO/COS workers on record, only 21 were tied to specific projects with documented agreements.

The rest were hired through mayoral appointments that only stated wage rates, duration and office assignments but failed to outline their duties.

“Most importantly, the necessity of hiring a number of JOs and service contractors could not be fully justified or established,” the report said, adding that the city’s reliance on temporary workers could be wasteful and expose government funds to irregular spending.

Bacoor City Ordinance No. 324-2023 explicitly requires JO/COS personnel to sign contracts of employment, while COA rules mandate contracts as supporting documents for salary payments.